Fairy Girl (A Fairy Tail Academy fanfic)
by TheSeasChild
Summary: Do you believe in fairies? Fairy Tail Academy is an elite boarding school for the insanely talented. It's also Lucy Heartfilia's dream school. So when she over hears something she shouldn't, Lucy's life is endangered, but will Lucy begin to believe in fairies before she herself becomes one? A Fairy Tail AU with a dark twist. Eventual NaLu.
1. Prologue: Lucy Joins Fairy Tail

**Fairy Tail Academy**

Prologue:

Lucy stood before the magnificent grand iron gates that surrounded the castle-like academy in front of her. The pink haired boy who had saved her earlier on – Nathan or something. She couldn't remember properly – was tugging at the rusty chains that kept the gates together, swearing at every failed attempt. Finally, he gave up and slumped to the ground, banging the back of his skull against the metal. "Damn fucking gates."

"I don't see what you're so angry about." Lucy chided him, tugging her bag back up onto her shoulder and striding forward, setting down her guitar case before leaning over his shrunken form and inspecting the chain. When she found nothing, she leant back. "If you're a student here, then they're going to have to let you in sooner or later, right?"  
"Nope." He yawned, stretching him arms upwards and closing his eyes. "You can only get in with a card."  
"Let me guess," Lucy drawled, sighing. "You lost yours?"  
"Bingo. Now we just gotta wait until someone else gets here."  
"You're kidding. Isn't there some sort of intercom somewhere? How do visitors get in?"  
"You can look all you like." He said, opening one eye and watching her look around. "You ain't gonna find an intercom. This school don't get any visitors."

"Every school gets visitors." She hissed, glaring at the pink haired male.

"Like I said: not this one."  
"What kind of school _is _this?!"  
"The special kind."  
Suddenly, a friendly voice came from behind the bickering pair, making Lucy jump. "Natsu, did you forget your card again?"

Lucy turned to see a petite blue haired girl – who couldnt've been more than 15 – place her hand son her hips mockingly and smile down at the pinkette. "You did, didn't you?"  
"Might've."  
"You really need to keep that thing in a safe place you know – one day someone might not come to your rescue like I do."  
"Blah blah blah."  
"Anyway," She sighed, before turning to rest her gentle gaze on Lucy. "Who're you? I don't think I've seen you before?"  
Lucy returned the smile, glad to find someone _normal _for the first time today. "I'm Lucy. Natsu said he could get me enrolled here."  
"Well hello Lucy," The bluenette smiled again, ignoring her slip up. "I'm Levy McGarden - 6th year student here. It's nice to know Natsu's made a friend."  
"She ain't my friend."  
"Oh shut it." Levy snapped suddenly, making Lucy jump again. "Sorry about that – he's not very polite. Anyway, shall we go in? At least _I've _got my card, unlike _someone._"  
"No need to be like that."

"I need to be, or else nothing's gonna sort you out." The bluenette snarled before sliding her card across a glass panel that Lucy hadn't noticed beforehand. The iron gates slowly creaked open, and the threesome walked inside, allowing the gates to slide shut behind them again. Together they walked into the building and instantly Lucy's ears were filled with the sound of playful screaming, soft impacts and laughter.

The blonde stared in wonder as students began walking past her little trio with different reactions – most people nodding politely; small, friendly smiles sent in her direction.

"Oi, Featherbrain!" A loud, harsh voice cut through Lucy's day dream, and a tall, pale teenager about Lucy's age stalked forward, his arm pulled back, his fist clenched. "Where'd you go?"  
"Gray-sama!" A small voice came from behind Gray's back, and Lucy noticed the shaking hands clutching his bicep, trying to restrain him. "Juvia doesn't think this is a very good idea."

"Yeah, listen to Juvia, Gray. Don't give Lucy here the wrong idea about Fairy Tail." Levy snarled, but ending up looking more like an angry puppy than anything else.

Gray shook off the hands that held his arms and lunged forward, digging his knuckles in Natsu's stomach. Instantly, the pinkette retaliated, and Levy sighed, turning Lucy around to face her.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail Academy."

And boy, what a welcome it was.

_Lucy loved it already._

* * *

**So here's the prologue to my version of the Fairy Tail Academy AU. I've never been truly happy with a FT school AU, so I wanted to try and take a shot of one myself. To me there's always been _something _missing from other school fics, and I realized what - some sort of adventure! Usually High School fics are 100% romance, or full of unnecessary love triangles, so I wanted to have a different plot line with my version - to which I decided that I would have a bit of mystery mixed in. **

**Don't worry, there will be some romance, but it won't be the main focus - I want to write something worthwhile and enjoyable, not just a romance with no plot.**

**If you're interested in reading more, here is the extract of the next chapter:**

_"I used to think that we were forever, ever,_

_And I used to say; 'Never say never'..."_

_Lucy grinned lopsidedly, and stopped strumming, reciting the next few lines. "Ugh... so he calls me up again, and he's like; 'I still love you' and I'm like... I just... this is exhausting! You know, like-"  
"We are never getting back together! Like ever!" Cana screamed, finishing the line and jumping upwards clumsily, her fist pumping above her head in joy, laughing gleefully._

_"NO!" Lucy sang, well more like laughed, picking her guitar back up and strumming randomly, not bothering to keep with the actual chords anymore._

_We are never ever ever, getting back together!_

_We, are never ever ever getting back together,_

_You go talk to your friends-"_

_"Talk to my friends!" Cana grinned, throwing herself back down, cross-legged.  
"Talk to me!  
But we, are never ever ever ever getting back together."_

_Lucy slowly untangled herself from her guitar strap and placed it next to her as she watched Cana fling herself down, the upper half of her body dangling off the bed, her hair pooling on the floor. She smiled as she watched her friend's hands move animatedly as she began to mumble, all sign of consumed alcohol long gone._

_(Just how much did this girl drink?)  
"I am so over that bastard." She flapped, shaking her head. "I don't even know why I liked him! There's nothing special about him – he's just a teenage dirtbag who's obsessed with wooden children's toys. Whoops, did I say that out loud?"  
Lucy giggled. "Yeah."  
"Fuck it." The brunette pounded her fist on the floor and flung herself off the bed. Quickly, she got to her feet and rushed to the door, throwing it open ceremoniously and hanging her head out of it._

_"Cana, what're you-"  
"OI, EVERYONE!" She screamed, laughing hysterically. "BIXLOW, THE FUCKING DIRTBAG WITH A BAD HAIRCUT, IS OBSESSED WITH DOLLS. YOU HEARD ME RIGHT – THAT 18 YEAR OLD BOG IS OBSESSED, AND PLAYS WITH, WOODEN CHILDREN'S TOYS. THIS HAS BEEN A PSA, GOODNIGHT!"_

_By the end of her scream-fest, all the doors of the female dorms where open, the student's of Fairy Tail Academy hanging out of them just as Cana was, their mouth's hung open in shock. Suddenly, they all started laughing – a chorus of high and low female voices that Lucy suddenly thought sounded better than any musical composition she had ever been forced to listen to as a child. Cana's head jerked, and she whipped her face around to smile smugly at Lucy before turning back to stomp out of the door and into the passageway, another idea coming to mind._

_"AND BIXLOW," She hollered, cupping her hands around her mouth as a makeshift megaphone, shaking her head to free her face from her unruly, unbrushed curls. "IF YOU CAN HEAR ME; YOU ARE A FUCKING ASSHOLE, WHO CAN'T LAST FIVE MINUTES IN BED. I HOPE I MEET THAT GIRL YOU CHEATED ON MY WITH SO WE CAN LAUGH ABOUT YOUR PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A PENIS TOGETHER. CANA OUT!"_

_Lucy felt her mouth drop – did Cana really just-? Well, the answer was yes, because suddenly, all the older girls rushed from their doors and surrounded Cana, all taking turns slapping her on the back and laughing just as much as she was. The girl in question was stood, beaming, and practically oozing with pride. Lucy heard the sound of hysterical laughter from below her, and assumed that the guys in their dorms had in fact heard Cana's outburst, and were beside themselves just as the girls were. The blonde placed her head in her heads, shaking with compressed laughter. So this was Fairy Tail, huh?_

If you liked it, please follow, and I'll update whenever I can!


	2. 1: Cana's Break Up and Lucy's Talent

**Chapter 1: Cana's Break Up and Lucy's Talent**

"All right class," Professor Clive sighed, watching his disruptive class mess about, throwing paper aeroplanes, doodling, or just plain talking. "Your homework is to find out how erosion works and make me a leaflet about it for next lesson – not that any of you will do it..."  
Lucy took note of the homework, looking up at the tall middle-aged man who stood in front of the blackboard, his head in his hands. She pitied him – it seemed that her Geography class had the worst students put together, and even though Professor Clive – or Gildarts, and he preferred the class to call him – had the reputation of being the most durable teacher in the entire academy, even he couldn't deal with Lucy's class for long. Five minutes into the lesson, Gray had threw a paper aeroplane at Natsu's head, and all hell broke out from there, leaving Lucy, Levy and Wendy – a small, quiet, blue haired girl in her third year at the school – the only three pupil's actually listening and taking notes on how a boulder was eroded through the course of a river's flow.

Sure, it wasn't Lucy's cup of tea, but she respected the teacher enough and wanted to make a good impression to the Headmaster – Makarov, as Natsu called him – for granting her a scholarship.

Finally, the bell – a horrible, shrill ringing noise – sounded, and Gildarts deflated, leaning against the board and throwing his thumb in the direction of the door. "Scram, you little brats."  
Lucy smiled apologetically and grabbed her book and pen from the desk, following Levy out of the classroom and into the female dorms. Sadly, the two girls; who had formed a quick, yet strong friendship, weren't roommates, but Lucy was lucky enough to get along with her own roommate, so she had no complaints. The petite bluenette disappeared into her room, and Lucy walked a few doors down to her own room, where she slid the key into the lock and stepped inside.

The blonde girl gagged at the stench that assaulted her nostrils as she walked into the threshold. Cana was already sat on her – being Lucy's – bed, a bottle of whatever today's alcohol was pressed to her lips as she downed the liquid. Her long brown curls were pulled back into a messy pony tail and her school uniform – altered to fit her preferences; rolled up, pleated skirt; torn off jumper sleeves; crumpled shirt, sunken socks – was messier than usual.

"Aww Cana," Lucy sighed as she slid beside the brunette. "Did Bixlow dump you again?"

Even though she had only been at Fairy Tail Academy for a week, Lucy was fully informed on the gossip – who was dating who, who had just broken up, who liked who. Lucy knew that Cana and Bixlow had an off/on relationship, and currently, it was _off. _And Cana, who was a regular underage drinker, was drinking even more than usual.

"Don't" Hiccup. "S-s-say t-that" Hic. "Like it's" Hic. "A-a-a-a bad thing."

"You need to stop hurting yourself like this," Lucy soothed, rubbing the hysterical brunette's back and she cried into her shirt. "Next time he wants to get back with you, say no."  
"But- but I love him!"  
Lucy sighed again and got off her bed, rummaging through her wardrobe until she found her familiar black case. She quickly returned to her bed and unzipped her guitar free of it's confines, slipping the sash of fabric around her neck and beginning to tune the instrument. "You're really worked up about this, aren't you?"  
Cana nodded, her hair coming loose of her ponytail, her eyes wide and sparkling with tears. Her lower lip wobbled in its pout, and despite the situation, Lucy wanted to get a picture of her right now for bragging rights. Instead, she bit down the urge and when she was satisfied with her tuning, she began strumming and plucking at her guitar strings, remembering the songs she heard on the radio this morning when she was getting ready for the day's lessons.

"_I remember when we broke up the first time,_

_Saying this is it I've had enough,_

_'Cos like,_

_We hadn't seen each other in a month,_

_When you said you needed space."_

"Lucy, what're you doing?" Cana sniffled, the tears coming to a halt as she watched her roommate concentrate on placing her fingers on the right strings.

"I've got to do something to stop you crying, right?" The blonde smiled before getting back to her acoustic strumming.

"_Then you come around again and say,_

_Baby, I miss you and I swear I'm gonna change,_

_Trust me,_

_Remember how that lasted for a day?_

_I say 'I hate you', we break up, you call me, 'I love you'"  
_Cana's glazed eyes filled with tears once more, her lower lip quivering.

"_Ooh, we called it off again last night,_

_But ooh, this time; I'm telling you, I'm telling you:_

_We are never ever ever, getting back together,_

_We are never ever ever getting back together,_

_You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me,_

_But we are never ever ever, getting back together."  
_Slowly, the drunken brunette's tears disappeared, and her lips began to curve upwards, her head swaying slightly as Lucy continued to strum, making up the chords as she went along – what? She couldn't remember the whole thing from only a few listens, but she would try her best.

"_I'm really gonna miss you picking fights, and me,_

_falling for it, screaming that I'm right,_

_And you would hide away and find your peace of mind,_

_In some indie record that's much cooler than mine._

_Ooh, we called it off again last night,_

_But ooh, this time; I'm telling you, I'm telling you;_

_We are never ever ever getting back together,_

_We are never ever ever getting back together!  
You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me,_

_'Cos we are never ever ever ever, getting back together!"  
_By now, Cana was grinning and laughing, running her hands through her hair as a few left over tears trickled down her cheeks, staining her collar as they fell. She shook her hair completely free of the elastic band that knotted it in place and wiped the tears from her face, urging Lucy to carry on, to which the blonde shrugged and started up again.

"_I used to think that we were forever, ever,_

_And I used to say; 'Never say never'..."_

Lucy grinned lopsidedly, and stopped strumming, reciting the next few lines. "Ugh... so he calls me up again, and he's like; 'I still love you' and I'm like... I just... this is exhausting! You know, like-"  
"We are never getting back together! Like _ever!_" Cana screamed, finishing the line and jumping upwards clumsily, her fist pumping above her head in joy, laughing gleefully.

"_NO!" _Lucy sang, well more like laughed, picking her guitar back up and strumming randomly, not bothering to keep with the actual chords anymore.

_We are never ever ever, getting back together!_

_We, are never ever ever getting back together,_

_You go talk to your friends-"_

"Talk to my friends!" Cana grinned, throwing herself back down, cross-legged.  
"_Talk to me!  
But we, are never ever ever ever getting back together."_

Lucy slowly untangled herself from her guitar strap and placed it next to her as she watched Cana fling herself down, the upper half of her body dangling off the bed, her hair pooling on the floor. She smiled as she watched her friend's hands move animatedly as she began to mumble, all sign of consumed alcohol long gone.

(Just how much did this girl _drink?_)  
"I am _so _over that bastard." She flapped, shaking her head. "I don't even know why I liked him! There's nothing special about him – he's just a teenage dirtbag who's obsessed with wooden children's toys. Whoops, did I say that out loud?"  
Lucy giggled. "Yeah."  
"Fuck it." The brunette pounded her fist on the floor and flung herself off the bed. Quickly, she got to her feet and rushed to the door, throwing it open ceremoniously and hanging her head out of it.

"Cana, what're you-"  
"OI, EVERYONE!" She screamed, laughing hysterically. "BIXLOW, THE FUCKING DIRTBAG WITH A BAD HAIRCUT, IS OBSESSED WITH DOLLS. YOU HEARD ME RIGHT – THAT 18 YEAR OLD BOG IS OBSESSED, AND PLAYS WITH, WOODEN CHILDREN'S TOYS. THIS HAS BEEN A PSA, GOODNIGHT!"

By the end of her scream-fest, all the doors of the female dorms where open, the student's of Fairy Tail Academy hanging out of them just as Cana was, their mouth's hung open in shock. Suddenly, they all started laughing – a chorus of high and low female voices that Lucy suddenly thought sounded better than any musical composition she had ever been forced to listen to as a child. Cana's head jerked, and she whipped her face around to smile smugly at Lucy before turning back to stomp out of the door and into the passageway, another idea coming to mind.

"AND BIXLOW," She hollered, cupping her hands around her mouth as a makeshift megaphone, shaking her head to free her face from her unruly, unbrushed curls. "IF YOU CAN HEAR ME; YOU ARE A FUCKING ASSHOLE, WHO CAN'T LAST FIVE MINUTES IN BED. I HOPE I MEET THAT GIRL YOU CHEATED ON ME WITH SO WE CAN LAUGH ABOUT YOUR PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A PENIS TOGETHER. CANA OUT!"

Lucy felt her mouth drop – did Cana really just-? Well, the answer was yes, because suddenly, all the older girls rushed from their doors and surrounded Cana, all taking turns slapping her on the back and laughing just as much as she was. The girl in question was stood, beaming, and practically oozing with pride. Lucy heard the sound of hysterical laughter from below her, and assumed that the guys in their dorms _had _in fact heard Cana's outburst, and were beside themselves just as the girls were. The blonde placed her head in her heads, shaking with compressed laughter. So this was Fairy Tail, huh? She knew she would get used to this pretty quickly – even if it was the polar opposite to her previous life with her father, something she really didn't want to remember. _  
_Slowly, the crowd trickled away, and Cana was left standing alone in the hallway. She flashed a toothy grin at the blonde and walked back into their shared room, rummaging through her drawers until she pulled out a new toothbrush and a full tube of toothpaste. Quickly, she winked over her shoulder at Lucy before walking back out of their room again, probably to the female bathroom, but not without a quick complaint.

"God, my breath is toxic – I feel like my throat is melting."

* * *

"And then she-"  
"I _know _Lucy, I was there!" Levy guffawed, clutching her stomach as she doubled over, her tiny face red.

Lucy, for some unknown reason, had felt the need to replay the previous night's antics again to her blue haired best friend. Form time had been currently uneventful, since Cana was in another tutor group to Lucy and Levy, so they had to find other means to entertain themselves. All talk had been about Cana's outburst, and to find any other conversation would be like finding a needle in a haystack, Lucy thought, leaning back in her chair. Suddenly, she had an idea, and turned to Levy, her grin glowing in excitement.

"Hey Levy..." She drawled, smacking her lips loudly. "You know you said you got in Fairy Tail with your amazing memory-"  
"And that I can read an encyclopedia in less than 15 minutes, remembering it word for word. Yes, what're you getting at?"  
"Well... do you think you can show me?" Lucy bounced in her chair like an excited puppy, her hands clasped in front of her as she pleaded.

No begging was necessary though, as as soon as the blonde had asked, Levy had whipped out a thick book from her back and was buried deep within its pages, her eyes scanning over the words at lightning fast speed before flicking the page over and starting again. The bluenette waved her hand, as if to tell Lucy to go away for a bit, and with a sigh, she picked herself up form her chair and decided to take a walk around her form room. Even after being at the boarding school for over a week now, she still hadn't got to grips with everything that she should. As she scanned the room, her brown eyes – with none of her trademark eyeliner or mascara, since she had overslept last night, being kept awake by Cana's constant muttering and sipping – landed on Wendy Marvell, the child genius, bent on becoming a world famous doctor, and finding a cure for any 'incurable' disease.

Since she was so advanced in all her classes, Wendy had been moved from third year to sixth, and even then, she easily beat most of the pupil's in their year. She surpassed Lucy – and even Levy – in all the sciences, but when it came to English Literature, and English Studies, she needed tutoring to keep up with a 17/18 year old's level. That's how she knew Levy – as well as being her roommate, along with Lisanna Strauss – who Lucy had yet to meet, being in none of her classes.

With a nod, the musician began to walk towards Wendy, who had her head stuck in a biology book. Suddenly, the young bluenette's head whipped up, and noticing Lucy's approach, cowered backwards slightly.

"H-hello." She stuttered. She probably assumed that Lucy being Cana's roommate meant she was an alcoholic or a troublemaker – and Lucy couldn't blame her.

"Hey Wendy," She smiled, walking over and perching on the desk in front of the child's own. "Levy's reading so I thought I'd come and make some more friends. You seemed lonely, so I thought I'd talk to you first."  
Wendy blushed, her eyes wide. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I? I've heard so much about you from Levy, so I thought it was about time I actually met Fairy Tail's child prodigy."

Her blush turned crimson, and her mouth opened and closed before she began to speak. "I-I wouldn't call myself a prodigy."  
"Levy says that you can heal anyone using the bare minimal. I haven't met anyone – child or adult – who could do that."  
"Really?"  
"Really truly." Lucy smiled.

"Levy's really nice to me." Wendy suddenly smiled, looking Lucy straight in the eye for the first time. "I like to think of her as a big sister, though I'd never tell her that."  
"You should – she'd probably start crying of happiness."

"You think so?"  
"Lucy!" Levy's voice suddenly came, and the blonde whipped around, nearly falling off of her table. "I'm finished."  
"Already?!" She gasped, astonished.

"I did say in under 15 minutes for an encyclopedia, didn't I?"  
"But it hasn't even been 10!"  
"Because this isn't an encyclopedia. So, do you want me to show you my talent or what?"  
"Yeah, I'll be right over." Lucy quickly turned back to Wendy. "If you want you can come visit me later on in my room - I promise that Cana isn't a scary as she looks, she just wants people to think that. I could play you a song if you'd like?"  
"That'd be great!" Wendy nodded, grinning. "What number's your room?"  
"107."  
"I'll be there after I've done my tutoring with Levy, so about 6?"  
"That would be great." Lucy smiled again, before waving goodbye and walking back over to Levy, who was sat impatiently, her bitten fingernails tapping on the wooden desk in front of her.

"You took your time." She grinned smugly.

"I was talking to Wendy. She's really cute, isn't she?"  
"Sure is. I love her to pieces – she's like the little sister I never had."

(Lucy decided to leave Wendy to tell Levy that she thought of her as a sister in her own time.)  
"So what have I gotta do?"

"Just pick a page, and ask me to recite any line from top to bottom." Levy nodded to herself, handing Lucy the book.

"How do I know you're not cheating?"  
"Because I'm in this school. Everybody's got some talent, or else they wouldn't be here."  
"Fairy enough." Lucy subsided, and flipped open the book to a random page. She then flicked her eyes to the 13th sentence down. "Page 394, sentence 13."  
"'_Her expression stopped him.'_"

"You're right!" Lucy gasped.

"Ask me to read any page." Levy commanded, her smug smile still etched on her face."  
"Page 566." Lucy said, flicking through the book once more before settling on said page.

"Oh no." The bluenette grimaced, her lip quivering. "It had to be that page, didn't it? Anyway:

'"_I-I will." _

_Below them, the voice laughed in the darkness. Sacrifices. Beautiful sacrifices to wake the goddess._

_Percy tightened his grip on Annabeth's wrist. His face was gaunt, scraped and bloody, his hair dusted with cobwebs, but when he locked eyes with her she never though he had never looked more handsome. _

"_We're staying together," He promised. "You;re not getting away from me. Never again."  
Only then did she understand what would happen. A one way trip. A very hard fall._

"_As long as we're together." She said._

_She heard Nico and Hazel still screaming for help. She saw the sunlight far, far above – maybe the last sunlight she would ever see._

_Then Percy let go of his tiny ledge, and together, holding hands, he and Annabeth tumbled into the endless darkness.'_"

By now Levy was in tears, doubled over sobbing on the table, and in her bright blue hair. Lucy too felt teary eyed, but she wasn't crying – sure, the scene was sad, but with no back story, she didn't feel any connection to Percy and Annabeth, whoever they were. She also thought that the scene was incredibly cute and heartfelt, so she decided to slowly rub Levy's back as she shook, attracting the looks of many classmates.

"Levy." Lucy groaned, shaking her slightly. "Levy stop crying, please."  
"You don't understand." The bluenette stressed.

"I will if I read the books?"  
"You wanna read the books?!" Levy suddenly gasped, whipping upwards, Lucy dodging her by a hair.

"I don't see why not," She shrugged, genuinely interested. "They sound good from that page."  
"There's nine books out now. I can lend you the first ones now – I just need to run back to my room."  
Lucy laughed. "Nah, just wait until the end of the day. The bell's about to go."

And just as she finished her sentence, the shrill bell rang, and the tutor room was in motion, half asleep pupils filing out of the room and off to their respective first lessons. Lucy waved goodbye to Levy as she headed off to her first lesson – music. Every day, first lesson was dedicated to improving your skills, so Levy had Mixed English right now, and Cana had Psychic Studies, having the talent of being able to guess the future with extreme – and scary - accuracy.

Finally, Lucy found the music room – which she somehow managed to get lost finding every day so far at this school – and pushed down the handle, stepping into the doorway and closing the door behind her. She took a spare seat – next to Vijeeter and Evergreen – and placed her guitar down gently next to her, waiting for Mr Taka to begin, and start to register the five pupils in the morning music class.

"Evergreen!" He jeered, upbeat and loud, just like his personality.

"Here." The blonde groaned, placing her hands over her ears to block out his loud voice.

"Sue?"  
"Here." The dark skinned girl – who Lucy learnt had transferred from Phantom Lord academy along with Juvia and Gajeel – pulled at her purple hat and sighed.

"Vijeeter?"  
"Present!" Hyperactive Vijeeter announced, startling Lucy.

"Lucy!"  
"Here sir." Lucy waved timidly, still not too sure what to think of Mr Taka and his blue skin.

"Chico?"  
The final blonde girl raked her tanned hands through her hair and chewed her gum as she replied. "As always."

Just as Lucy was about to unpack her guitar from her case, the class door swung open violently, crashing against the wall and sending multiple wooden instruments scattering across the floor from their shelves. The blonde whipped her head about suddenly and groaned as she took in the figure in the doorway, the light form the windows blazing against his tan skin.

Natsu Dragneel stood panting, one hand gripping the doorway for support as he regained his breath and strode into the classroom, slightly dizzy. He slumped into the chair next to Chico, and she 'tsk'ed at his behaviour as Mr Taka laughed loudly.  
"Ah Natsu Dragneel! Right on!" He laughed, pointing a long, slender finger in the pinkette's direction. "What else should I have expected from the school troublemaker? Anyway, glad you're here, now let's get started!"  
"Um, sir," Lucy intervened, her hand raised slightly. "Why is Natsu in this class? He's never been in here before so-"

"Maybe I can sing." He growled, crossing his arm against his chest and glaring at the blonde. "Why? Do you have a problem with me being here? You've got some nerve, since I was the one who got you in here."  
"I, personally, do _not _have a problem with you, Natsu, but you seem bent on ignoring me every time I speak to you. But that's not the issue here – I'm just confused, that's all. As I said; you;ve never been in this class whilst I've been here, so why the sudden change?"  
"And as _I _said," Natsu growled, leaning backwards in his chair so that he could get a better view of Lucy. "Maybe I can sing."  
"All right," Mr Taka chirped nervously, sensing the fireworks about to go off between the pair. "Let's get rocking!"  
Lucy sent a final glare over to Natsu and focused back onto Mr Taka, who was busying himself at the front of the room, writing on the whiteboard and reading out what the project they were starting was. The blonde gasped in excitement, and sat upright in her chair, awaiting further instructions for the task ahead: learn, mix and perform 2 songs of your own choice.

"But, there's a catch," The blue haired rocker cried, whipping back around to face his minute class, his hair a hurricane of blue. "You're gonna rock this in pairs. You each gotta chose a song and mix them perfectly to perform to everyone here, and in the sports class. "  
There was a collective groan, and Lucy sunk into her seat once more. It wasn't that she didn't like her classmates, it was just... she didn't know them very well, and they were more casual acquaintances than people you'd pick as partners.

"Before you can start moaning," Their teacher drawled. "I've already picked the pairs – Chico and Sue, Evergreen and Vijeeter, Natsu and Lucy."  
Before anyone could react, Natsu's chair had crashed to the ground, and he pointed an accusing finger in Lucy's direction, causing the blonde to jolt upright, her eyes wide and gleaming. "_What?!" _The pinkette cried. "I'm not working with her! I'd rather work with Evergreen!"  
"The feeling's not mutual." The glamorous teen hissed.

"Sorry mate, can't change now." Taka shrugged, making Natsu fume.

"You can't be serious?"

"What is your problem?" Lucy screamed, her own chair now on the floor, turned on it's back. "I have done nothing but be polite and friendly with you since the moment I got here. I owe you my entire Fairy Tail scholarship, and I know and welcome that. I've tried to be your friend, but you're bent on pushing me away – so tell me what I've done to make you hate me so much!"  
"You're just too perfect in every way, that's what. You've got no faults, but still, you rely on other people to get you places whilst you sit and do nothing."  
"Are you talking about when Bora- Oh my God, you are!" Lucy fumed, her face flushed with anger and embarrassment. "I was _kidnapped _and _bound! _What could I have done? He was about to sell me off to a _prostitution ring_!"  
Suddenly, he deflated, and righted his chair, sinking back down into it and looking the other way. "Sorry."  
Lucy took a step back, flabbergasted. "What?"

"I said I'm sorry, okay?"

Lucy took a deep breath and righted her own chair, copying Natsu's actions and sitting down as well. "It's okay, I forgive you."  
"Well then..." Taka whistled through his teeth, nervous at the tempers running high. "Let's get rocking?"

* * *

**Well then, what do you think of Fairy tail Academy's' first official chapter? I had so much fun writing this, but can I apologise for Natsu's current OOC? It's important to the plot line, and will be explained later on, so hang in there!**

**Here's a quick preview of Chapter 2: Titania and the Impressionists.**

_Cana laughed, her drunken breaths hitching in her throat and making her wheeze. "Well then," She mused, her bottle of wiskey swirling in her hands. "Who's up for a game of Hide and Seek?"_  
_Wendy squealed and hid behind Levy, shaking and clutching at her sides in her child-like manner. Levy patted her head awkwardly from her posistion and opened her mouth to speak, when she was cut off by Lisanna, who began to shake her head furiously._  
_"No way Cana," The white haired impressionist hissed, her blue eyes boring holes into the drunken teenager before her. "The last time we played your game of Hide and Seek, Levy broke her arm, Erza nearly killed Gray, you got Wendy drunk, and the loser had to give into one of your horrid dares - I refuse to let that happen again!"_  
_Cana began to tut, wagging her finger tauntingly at the youngest of the Strauss siblings. "No no no, Lizzy my dear - this time we have your darling sister and our wonderful Lucy here to stop any trouble, don't we? With them around, nothing but pure teenage fun with occur."_  
_"Ugh," Lisanna grimaced. "You get literate when you're drunk, and you think you're clever."_  
_The brunette leant forward, her large bust nearly popping out from her tight pyjamas. "Oh, but I am clever. I am the one who plans these games, aren't I? And you must admit that last time was pretty fun, until Levy got hurt, right?"_  
_Lisanna contemplated for a few seconds before nodding slowly. "Okay, I admit - it was pretty fun, but still, we can't risk that again."_  
_"Oh don't be such a killjoy, Lisanna!" Cana snarled, throwing her now empty bottle of booze onto the floor, effectively smashing it into shards. "You always have to be the one to rain on my parade, don't you?"_  
_"Cana!" Lucy yelled, watching Lisanna's hurt expression. "Lisanna, she doesn't mean that, she's just drunk."_  
_"Oh she means it." Lisanna snarled, turning to face the blonde before turning back to the drunken brunette. "All right, we'll play your stupid game, but this time Lucy and Mira-nee have to play with us. And If I win - you have to do one of my dares."_  
_"And if I win?" Cana whispered._  
_"I will be your slave for a month, obeying your every command."_  
_"Lisanna, don't-" _  
_"Shush, Mira-nee please. I know what I'm doing."_  
_"That's the spirit!" Erza beamed, slapping the white haired girl on the back painfully._  
_"Okay then..." Lucy gulped, taking in the various teenagers before her. "Let's begin Hide and Seek."_


	3. 2: Titania and The Impressionists

Chapter 2: Titania and the Impressionists

"Okay..." Lucy whispered to herself as she and Natsu sat opposite each other, still quiet from their spat earlier on in the lesson. They still had to agree on their songs, yet they could barley look each other in the eye – let alone have a conversation, so how was Lucy going to go about this?

"So what songs are you gonna chose then, since I assume I'm not gonna get my pick." Natsu said, finally raising his head to look Lucy straight in the eye, making her cower slightly under his gaze.

At least all the tension was gone.

"My choice is Galaxies by Owl City."  
"Never heard of it," Natsu shook his head. "But what's your other song?"  
"I don't have another one – it's your choice."  
"Wow, someone who actually lets me have my say." He nodded. "I'm more of a Paramore person if I'm honest so..."  
Lucy leant forward, intrigued. This was the most she'd ever got from this guy. "So..?"  
"Ain't It Fun."  
"I love that song!" She grinned, relaxing back into her chair. "But how're we gonna mix the two together, that's the question... Hey, Natsu?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Can you play any instruments?"  
"Nah. Can't hit a drum without breaking it so..."  
"Well, I'll have to teach you a few basic chords so that you don't just stand awkwardly whilst we preform. I'll play piano and you can play the guitar – or, you will be able to once I've finished with you."  
"This is gonna be fun."  
"It is."

Silence.

_Again!  
_ "Anyway..." The blonde coughed awkwardly, hoping to get some more conversation going on. "Can you print off the lyrics, chords and the piano score to your song so we can start mixing them together with mine? Just type it in on Google for me, would you? I'm gonna find mine now so..."  
Natsu shrugged, and started towards a computer. "Sure, whatever you say."

* * *

"Are you sure this is gonna sound okay?" Natsu asked Lucy, who was scribbling down lyrics, sceptically as he read over her shoulder. "I mean."  
"Just be quiet, okay? I'm not very good at writing lyrics, so unless you have a better idea..."  
"Maybe I do."

Lucy pushed her chair backwards and stood up, stepping backwards and motioning for Natsu to sit down. "Well be my guest."  
With raised eyebrows, the pinkette sat down and grabbed another sheet of lined paper, stealing Lucy's uncapped pen from her hand and beginning to note down his own version of the mash-up. Quarter of an hour later he dropped the pen and shook out his hand, gripping the sheet and passing it to the blonde, who was stood silently behind him, watching him in curiosity. Lucy jumped at the sudden action, and took the paper into her own hands and reading off of it.

"_Call back the cap com,_

_Tick off the time bomb-" _She sang quietly.

"_**Ain't it fun?**_" Natsu joined in, just as Lucy began the next line. "_Let felicity fly-_"

"_**I don't mind.**_"

Lucy raised an eyebrow and carried on singing from the sheet, ignoring Natsu's smug grin and posture below her._"Armor the air lock_

_Blanket the bed rock_

_And kiss the plant goodbye."_

"_**I don't mind.**" _

"_What're you gonna do, _

_when the world don't orbit around you?" _

Suddenly, Natsu sang again, cutting Lucy off. "_**Around you!**_

_**Ain't it fun?"**  
"I was terribly lost." _The blonde began just as he began to sing the next lyric.

"_**Living in the real world!**"_

"_And the sun went dark."_

"_**Ain't it fun?**"  
"I don't mind."  
"**Being all alone.**"_

"_When the galaxies crossed."_

Quickly, Lucy regained her breath, and whistled. "Wow."  
"Wow what?" Natsu grinned, as if he already knew exactly what she was going to say.

"That was... pretty good actually." Lucy nodded in approval. "And how did you know when exactly to come in?"  
"I wrote it, didn't I? I'm bound to know what it's meant to sound like."  
"Don't get cocky," The blonde scrunched her nose in slight annoyance at him, though if she was to be honest to herself – she was growing fond of the guy.

"I'm not, I'm honest." He laughed, then he leant forward suddenly, his face serious. "Ya know what I said earlier, about you being completely perfect?"  
Lucy put up her guard. "Yeah...?"  
"Well I've realised something."  
"What?"  
"You're not completely perfect after all."  
"And why's that?"  
"You have no sense of personal hygiene it seems – your breath _stinks._"  
Suddenly, Lucy was grasping her mouth, blushing a deep crimson. She knew there was something she forgot to do this morning when she overslept! But _this? _Mortifying! "Oh my God." She muttered.

Natsu laughed again, reeling backwards into his chair. "You're a ditz aren't you?"  
But by now, Lucy was beyond help. "Oh my God, I need to go brush my teeth, like right now. I can't go to next lesson with horrid breath and yellow teeth, can it? This is mortifying! Ugh."  
"Lucy- Lucy calm dow- _Lucy!_"  
"_What?" _

"I have some gum in my bag if you want."  
Lucy let out a deep breath. "_Thank you._"  
"No problem."  
Then the bell rang, and almost instantly, Evergreen marched out the room, her heels clicking against the wooden floorboards, quickly followed by Sue and Chico. Quickly, Natsu ran over to his bag and grabbed out a pack of gum. He slipped two into Lucy's hands and ran off to his next lesson, leaving Lucy alone in the room with Mr Taka as Vijeeter left quickly after him.

"Well then..." Taka laughed, striding over to Lucy and flipping his long blue hair over his shoulder. "Looks like you two are getting along awesomely."

"Yeah... I guess we are." Lucy grinned, opening her mouth and tipping the gum into her mouth, turning on her heel and marching out of the classroom, picking up her bag on her way out.

* * *

Finally, the bell rang after Lucy's fourth lesson of the day. Quickly she shoved her books into her side bag and rushed out of History, eager to get to the lunch hall and gossip with Levy about the day's actions so far.

Lucy skipped down the hallway, when suddenly she heard a loud crash, followed by a muffled scream. Her eyes widened, and she ran towards where she though she heard the noise.

"_How dare you!" _A growling voice screamed, and another crash quickly followed.

"For fucks sake, Featherbrain." A vaguely familiar male voice came from behind Lucy, and she jumped. "What've you done this time to piss Erza off?"  
"Gray!" Lucy sighed, her hand planted on her chest to slow down her pulse as she ran alongside the raven haired male. "Do you know what's going on? Do you think anyone's hurt?"  
"Oh it's you – ain't you the one who Natsu brought here?"  
"Yeah but you didn't answer my questions – what's going on? Is anyone hurt?"

"Well of fucking course! Natsu's somehow managed to piss off Erza again so he's fucking screwed."

"Who's Erza?"

"The school's martial art and weapons expert – or as everyone else knows her, Titania."

"Oh."  
"Yeah, 'oh's right."

"_Answer me you idiot! Why did you snap at Lucy today?"_

"Oh no..."Lucy grimaced as she and Gray skidded around a corner to find Natsu pinned up against the wall by his throat, a female with her flaming red hair tied back neatly into a high ponytail, growling in anger. "How does she know about that?"  
"Pretty much everyone knows. Evergreen's in your music class, so of course they do."  
"_Why won't you answer me?"  
_Natsu spluttered under the redhead's hands. "C-cant b-breathe-"  
"What was that?" She hissed, pressing tighter into his throat, veins showing prominantly under her skin.  
Lucy had had enough. Hesitantly, she stepped forward and shouted. "Erza, that's enough – let him go!"

Suddenly, Erza's head whipped around, the angry red tint to her cheeks draining from her face. Quickly, she dropped the pinkette and smiled, holding out her hand towards Lucy. "Oh, Lucy, it's nice to finally meet you!"

"What was that?!"  
"What was what?"  
"Lucy," Natsu hissed from the ground, waving his hand in front of his neck.

"You were _strangling _someone – don't tell me you think that's okay?"  
Gray grimaced and reached forward to grab Lucy as he noticed Titania's expression. "Lucy stop, that's enough-"  
Erza held out her hand to stop the boy, and lowered her head, her red bangs falling into her eyes, ashamed. "No, she's right. I apologise Natsu. Lucy, you may hit me if it'll make you feel better."  
"I think I'll pass..." Lucy assured her, and Erza snapped upright once more.

"Can I try again with my introduction?"

"Of course you can."  
Erza extended her arm to the blonde."Hello Lucy, it's nice to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you from Levy."

Lucy grabbed Titania's hand and shook gently, smiling. "Nice to meet you too Erza. I hope we can be friends."  
Erza grinned widely, her eyes sparkling with joy. "As do I."

Behind them, Gray was helping Natsu to stand. "Did she just..."  
"Yeah... she did."  
"Oh, Erza!" A sweet voice rang through the corridor, interrupting the moment. "I was wondering where you were and – oh. Am I interrupting something?"  
"I was just getting to know Lucy here, Mira."  
"Lucy? Oh, you mean the new girl?" Mira pondered.  
"The very same."

Lucy waved her hand shyly at the white haired girl as she approached. "Hi."  
"Hi Lucy, I'm Mirajane Strauss, the school's resident make-up artist and fashion designer." Mira smiled, and enveloped Lucy into a hug.

"That's nice." Lucy wheezed, struggling for breath in the bone-crushing hug. "But can you loosen up a bit? I can't breathe."  
"Oh, sorry!" She gasped, reeling backwards and releasing the blonde from her death grip. "I forget sometimes that I'm stronger that I look."

"Yeah – she used to be on par with Erza when it came to weapons!" Gray laughed. "Then she decided it just wasn't for her."  
"So Lucy," Mira piped up again, resting her hands on the blonde's shoulders. "What's your talent?"  
"I can play almost any instrument, and I can sing."  
"Really? So that makes you... the school's resident musical prodigy. Evergreen can only sing opera and play the violin, so you take her role easily!"

"Mira-nii!" Another voice similar to Mira's sang. "Hurry up or all the nice food's gonna be gone!"  
"Coming Lisanna! Let's go – you must all be hungry, right?"

* * *

"Lucy, where were you! I thought-" Levy stressed, waving for Lucy to come join her when she noticed who she was with. "So you've met the rest of us, huh? I'm glad."

Juvia – who Lucy remembered was the pretty blue haired girl from the first day – was sat next to Levy, and across from them was Wendy, Cana, and three guys Lucy had never seen before, one a tall bulky guy with white hair, another tall and scary, with piercings dotted all over his face and an untameable mane of black hair and a small boy about Wendy's age with purple hair and a uniform that matched Natsu's almost perfectly, down to scuffs on his shoes.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia cried, waving an arm around to gain the raven haired male's attention. "Juvia saved you a seat and bought you your favourite lunch!"

Lucy heard Gray groan from behind her.

Quickly, she skipped over and sat down next to Levy, patting the space next to her for Lisanna to sit down. Although the two were completely different, they got along really well so far, and Lucy wanted to get to know her more. Mirajane then sat next to her sister, and Erza slipped into the seat at the head of the table, next to Cana. Natsu threw himself into the seat between the boy with purple hair and the guy with the piercings, and Gray sat next to Juvia, which seemed to please the bluenette, if her deep flush was anything to go by.

"So first of all, Lucy, these are Romeo, Elfman and Gajeel." Levy pointed to the three males Lucy didn't know, starting with the purple haired boy, then to the white haired guy, then to the male with the piercings.

(Lucy didn't miss her slight blush as she said his name)

"Uh... hey guys!" Lucy waved, feeling slightly intimidated by the two bulkier teens.

"A true man introduces himself to his sister's friends!" The tallest – Elfman, she believed it was – announced. "I'm Elfman Strauss – Mira and Lisanna's brother."  
"Nice to meet you, Elfman."  
"Hey there, Lucy, I'm Romeo." The small boy grinned.

"Hi Romeo."

The other guy, Gajeel, simply huffed.

"Nice to meet you too."  
"Well now that you know the whole gang, let's eat!" Levy smiled, and instantly took a huge bite out of her sandwich.

"Hey Lisanna..." Lucy said as the others dug into their meals.

"Yeah Lucy?" The youngest Strauss cocked her head to the side and swallowed her mouthful of food.

"What's your talent? I don't think you told me."  
"That's right, I didn't, did I? Well, it's slightly similar to Mira-nii's. Whilst she can makes herself look like practically anyone, I can make myself sound like anyone. We're a great double act."  
"Really? Can I see?"  
"Sure." She smiled, and let her blue eyes scan the table. "You ready for this?" She snickered as she began to speak. "Gray-sama, Gray-sama, are you grateful for Juvia buying you lunch?"

"I guess..." Gray muttered, and Lucy laughed into her hand, amazed at just how accurate Lisanna was with her impression.

"Wow, that's amazing!" She guffawed.

"Now you've gotta sing for me."

"_What?_" Lucy spluttered.

"You heard me. I show my talent to you, so you show your talent to me – it's only fair."  
Lucy sighed. "Fine... what do you want me to sing?"  
"What you're doing in you advanced music class! I was walking past the room this morning when I heard you and Natsu practising."  
"But I need Natsu to do that with me, or else it'll just sound stupid."  
"Fine. Natsu owes me one anyway, so I'll get him to do it. Hey, Natsu!"  
"What?"  
"Lucy's gonna sing for me, and you've gotta sing with her."  
"Why me?"  
"Two reasons. One; you're the only one who knows the song, two; you owe me one anyway."  
"Fine."  
Lisanna smirked and turned back to Lucy. "Go on then."  
"Just to warn you, I don't have my guitar so I can't add any actual music-"

"You didn't have any music this morning."  
"But-"  
"Stop stalling!" She laughed.

"Fine," Lucy breathed before starting.

"_Call back the cap com,_

_Tick off the time bomb-" _

"_**Ain't it fun?**_" Natsu joined in begrudgingly, embarrassed.

"_Let felicity fly-_"

"_**I don't mind.**_"

"_Armor the air lock_

_Blanket the bed rock_

_And kiss the plant goodbye."_

"_**I don't mind.**" _

"_What're you gonna do, _

_when the world don't orbit around you?" _

"_**Around you!**_

_**Ain't it fun?"**  
"I was terribly lost." _

"_**Living in the real world!**"_

"_And the sun went dark."_

"_**Ain't it fun?**"  
"I don't mind."  
"**Being all alone.**"_

"_When the galaxies crossed."_

"Woo!" Lisanna laughed, clapping as the pair finished singing. One by one, the rest of the table clapped as well, and Lucy blushed.

"It's not finished yet – and Natsu wrote it!"

"Don't tell 'em that!"  
"Why not?"  
"Because he doesn't want to seem a pussy." Gray laughed.

"There's nothing wrong with being a pussy!" Cana barked, causing the male to shrink back into his seat. "In fact, it's awesome. I don't see you dicks having tits that you can do whatever you want with."  
"Cana no..." Lucy groaned, leaning over the table and covering Wendy's ears.

"You're boring."  
"I'm sensible."  
"Another word for boring."  
Then, after poking her tongue out at the physic, Lucy began eating her own meal before the bell rang for their last lesson of the day.

* * *

Exhausted, Lucy piled out of Science with Levy leaning on her shoulder and Wendy giggling behind them. Once again, they were last out of class, allowing their more rowdy classmates to escape first.

Either that or get crushed in the rabble.

Together, the two older girls made their way back to their rooms, Levy's eyes drooping shut as they walked.

"Wendy..." She yawned. "I think we're gonna have to cut your tutoring tonight."  
"That's okay." The smaller bluenette laughed as she trailed on beside them, clutching her bag to her chest.

Finally, they made it to their rooms, and Lucy walked Levy into hers, dropping her onto her bed and bidding Lisanna and Wendy goodnight before leaving to go to her own room. When she unlocked the door, she was greeted by Cana, who was dancing around the room in her underwear, headphones plugged into her ears as she held her phone in her hand, shaking her hips wildly.

"CANA, PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!" Lucy screamed, blushing madly as she threw herself down onto her bed and burying her face into her pillow.

"What? Overwhelmed by my gorgeous body?" The brunette said seductively, sashaying over to where Lucy was laid.

"Go away and get dressed!"

Cana 'tsk'ed and grabbed a pair of shorts and a vest top from her drawers. "You're no fun."  
"So you've said."

Quickly, she slid the clothing onto her body, and Lucy sat up, finally over the embarrassment of seeing her room mate practically naked. Suddenly, the brunette leaped onto Lucy's bed and groped her from behind, eliciting a surprised squeal from the blonde. "CANA!"  
Cana cackled at her friend's reaction, falling backwards and rolling off the bed. "You're amazing."  
"Sh-shut up!" She stuttered, crossing her arms across her breasts.

"Anyway, stay here. I'll be back in ten minutes."  
"Why?"  
"Just stay here."  
Then she waltzed out of the door, her bare feet padding quietly along the corridor until Lucy couldn't hear her anymore. True to her word though, Cana returned 10 minutes later, but this time, she was accompanied by 11 other people, who all crowded into their room. Juvia stood close to Gray, unable to leave his side, Romeo hung around Natsu, chatting animatedly to him, and Wendy stood next to Romeo. Levy came and sat down next to Lucy, and Lisanna, Elfman and Mirajane stood together in a crowded triangle. Cana stood atop her bed and smirked lopsidedly, suddenly pulling out a bottle of alcohol from under her quilt and downing half of it.

"Okay," She announced, clapping her hands loudly against the half full bottle, some of the liquid sloshing over the sides. "Since Gajeel's too much of a fucking scrooge to get his mooching ass outta bed, and Laxus would rather date his computer than actually socialise, we're the only ones here.

"Um, yes, about that..." Juvia said quietly. "Why exactly are we all gathered here?"  
Cana laughed suddenly, her drunken breaths hitching in her throat and making her wheeze. "If you really wanna know..." She mused, her bottle of wiskey swirling in her hands. "Who's up for a game of Hide and Seek?"  
Wendy squealed, running over and leaping behind Levy, hiding behind the older girl, shaking and clutching at her sides in her child-like manner. The older bluenette patted her head awkwardly from her position and opened her mouth to speak, when she was cut off by Lisanna, who began to shake her head furiously.

"No way Cana," The white haired impressionist hissed, her blue eyes boring holes into the drunken teenager before her. "The last time we played your game of Hide and Seek, Levy broke her arm, Erza nearly killed Gray, you got Wendy drunk, and the loser had to give into one of your horrid dares - I refuse to let that happen again!"

Cana began to tut, wagging her finger tauntingly at the youngest of the Strauss siblings. "No no no, Lizzy my dear - this time we have your darling sister and our wonderful Lucy here to stop any trouble, don't we? With them around, nothing but pure teenage fun with occur."  
"Ugh," Lisanna grimaced. "You get literate when you're drunk, and you think you're clever."

The brunette leant forward, her cheeks growing flushed from the alcohol, her large bust nearly popping from her tight tank top. "Oh, but I am clever. I am the one who plans these games, aren't I? And you must admit that last time was pretty fun, until Levy got hurt, right?"  
Lisanna contemplated for a few seconds before nodding slowly. "Okay, I admit - it was pretty fun, but still, we can't risk that again."  
"Oh don't be such a killjoy, Lisanna!" Cana snarled, throwing her now empty bottle of booze onto the floor, effectively smashing it into shards. "You always have to be the one to rain on my parade, don't you?"

"Cana!" Lucy yelled for what seemed like the 10th time that half hour, watching Lisanna's hurt expression. "Lisanna, she doesn't mean that, she's just drunk."  
"Oh she means it." Lisanna snarled suddenly, turning to face the blonde before turning back to the drunken brunette. "All right, we'll play your stupid game, but this time Lucy and Mira-nii have to play with us. And If I win - you have to do one of my dares."  
"And if I win?" Cana whispered.

"I will be your slave for a month, obeying your every command. That includes doing your homework."  
Mira placed her hand on her younger sister's shoulder, her face full of genuine concern. "Lisanna, don't-"  
"Shush, Mira-nii please. I know what I'm doing."  
"That's the spirit!" Erza beamed, slapping the white haired girl on the back painfully.

"Okay then..." Lucy gulped, taking in the various teenagers before her. How could a childish game of Hide and Seek be that bad, honestly? "Let's begin Hide and Seek shall we?"

* * *

**So here's chapter 2! What did you think?  
I'm not at all good at writing remixes, believe me I tried, to forgive me for my pathetic excuse for one so far. But are you ready for Hide and Seek? Believe me, this is Fairy Tail, so something's gonna go wrong no matter what, right?  
Anyway, here's the preview of Chapter 3: Fairy Girl**

_Lucy twisted the rusty doorknob hesitantly. Was she even allowed here? She didn't think so, but even so, she pressed onward, opening the old, creaky door and stepping inside, shutting it behind her. Instantly, she was shrouded in darkness, and she groped along the walls in search of a light switch. Finally, she found what she was searching for, and flicked the switch, lighting the single, tiny light bulb that hung isolated in the centre of the ceiling. When her eyes adjusted to the dim light, the first thing that caught her attention was the bookshelves that line every wall, from floor to ceiling, books stacked upon each other in a neat, organised fashion._

_The blonde stepped forward, her hand outstretched when suddenly, the room flashed a brilliant white, and Lucy fell backwards with a loud thump. Quickly, she raised her head, and opened her mouth to scream when she took in the- the thing in front of her._

_"Stop!" The young woman said quietly, her feather light hand resting upon Lucy's open lips. _

_Her platinum blonde locks hung in waves to just above her ankles, and her simple white dress was in tatters near the hem, which stopped midway down her calves. A crown of laurels encircled her head, hiding under her messy bangs, and two leaves stuck out to the sides. Her dress floated with a non-existent wind, and that was when Lucy noticed the wings. Eight of them in total; two larger, leaf-like wings on each side of her shoulders, and two smaller leaves on her left and right spouting from the small of her back. They fluttered gently, so her petite, bare feet didn't touch the ground._

_And she was opaque, just like glass, Lucy just being able to see the bookshelves behind her._

_"Hide, you need to hide!" The girl began pulling at Lucy's arms and whipping her head around frantically to find somewhere for her to hide - which was near to none._

_"Why? Who are you?"_  
_"There's no time to explain, but please, hide - I beg of you! I am Mavis Vermillion, Fairy Tail's Founder. In here!" She said quickly, flicking the light switch off and leaving the pair in darkness._

_"But if you're the first headmaster, shouldn't you be dead?"_  
_"I am. Now hide, or you'll be next!" She snapped, her large green eyes shining, full of panic._

_"But-"_  
_"Get in!"_

_Then Lucy was pushed inside an air vent just big enough to hold her just as the door swung open once more, two proud figures striding into the room; one with long slender legs; the other with a strong, prideful stance. Lucy shuffled backwards, remembering the fairy's words; '_or you'll be next._', and feeling a sense of dread overcoming her. The cold from the metal seeped into her body as she heard movement from the room, and the scraping of a chair._


	4. 3: Fairy Girl

Chapter 3: Fairy Girl

"I'm picking Lucy." Cana laughed, as she and Lisanna began picking their teams for the game of Hide and Seek.

Even though it was a mere child's game, it was beginning to get serious. Teams were being chosen, alliances being made in the teams, jeering remarks made at the people on the other side. It was hell in school. Slowly, Lucy made her way over to where Cana was stood, her hands planted firmly on her hips as she stood parallel to Lisanna.

"Fine then, I'm picking Levy." The white haired Strauss announced, and quickly Levy rushed to her side, sending an apologetic glance in Lucy's direction.

"Erza."  
"Mira-nii."  
"Natsu."  
"Elf-nee-chan."

"Gray."  
"Wendy."  
"Juvia."

"Romeo."

"There, we're all set." Cana said. "There's 3 rules this time. 1; no hiding outside the school building. 2; If you're touched by anyone on another team, you've gotta return here. No cheating. 3; no hiding in pairs – you're all alone this time. Ready?"  
There was a murmur of agreement.

"Good, let's go! You've got five minutes before the game actually starts, so go!"

At her word, it was like a stampede trying to exit the room. Once Lucy was free, she sprinted the alongside Juvia towards the stairs. Juvia went down; Lucy went up. And carried on going up until there were no more stairs to climb. Breathless, Lucy slowed to a slow walk and went in search of a room to hide in. Slowly, she made her way along the long corridor, testing every door to see it if was unlocked, and what was inside its walls.

Finally, she reached the end of the corridor, and found a single, dark door staring right back at her. Curiosity got the better of her, and hearing loud footsteps below her, she pushed the door open and stepped inside, finding herself faced with yet another few flights of stairs, but this time, they spiralled around a central column, and each step was a thick slab of rock, slick and worn from its years of use, right in the centre of a square set of walls that Lucy couldn't even see the ceiling of.

Slowly, she climbed the spirals of stone, her fingers dragging along the uneven wall. Darkness covered her, and the only sounds to be heard was the dripping of the collective drops of moisture and Lucy's own haggard breaths, still panting from her run up 7 flights of stairs. Every so often, she would cross paths with a window, and a single beam of light illuminating Lucy's face. She had no clue how long she had been gone, but it was dark outside when she came across the next window, dark, black clouds lining the night sky.

Then the stairs came to a sudden halt, and Lucy came face to face with another door. Dark and rustic, Lucy felt overwhelmed with another wave of curiosity to find out what was behind the panel of wood. Slowly, she stretched her arm out towards the door and rested her hand on top of the once ornate, round doorknob, her fingers shaking slightly in both anticipation and... fear? But of what?

Lucy twisted the rusty doorknob hesitantly. Was she even allowed here? She didn't think so, but even so, she pressed onward, opening the old, creaky door and stepping inside, shutting it behind her. Instantly, she was shrouded in darkness, and she groped along the walls in search of a light switch. Finally, she found what she was searching for, and flicked the switch, lighting the single, tiny light bulb that hung isolated in the centre of the ceiling. When her eyes adjusted to the dim light, the first thing that caught her attention was the bookshelves that line every wall, from floor to ceiling, books stacked upon each other in a neat, organised fashion. In the centre of the room an empty desk and simple wooden chair sat, untouched.

The blonde stepped forward, her hand outstretched when suddenly, the room flashed a brilliant white, and Lucy fell backwards with a loud thump. Quickly, she raised her head, and opened her mouth to scream when she took in the- the thing in front of her.

"Stop!" The young woman said quietly, her feather light hand resting upon Lucy's open lips.

Her platinum blonde locks hung in waves to just above her ankles, and her simple white dress was in tatters near the hem, which stopped midway down her calves. A crown of laurels encircled her head, hiding under her messy bangs, and two leaves stuck out to the sides. Her dress floated with a non-existent wind, and that was when Lucy noticed the wings. Eight of them in total; two larger, leaf-like wings on each side of her shoulders, and two smaller leaves on her left and right spouting from the small of her back. They fluttered gently, so her petite, bare feet didn't touch the ground.

And she was opaque, just like glass, Lucy just being able to see the bookshelves behind her.

"Hide, you need to hide!" The girl began pulling at Lucy's arms and whipping her head around frantically to find somewhere for her to hide - which was near to none.

"Why? Who are you?"  
"There's no time to explain, but please, hide - I beg of you! I am Mavis Vermillion, Fairy Tail's Founder. In here!" She said quickly, flicking the light switch off and leaving the pair in darkness.

"But if you're the first headmaster, shouldn't you be dead?"  
"I am. Now hide, or you'll be next!" She snapped, her large green eyes shining, full of panic.

"But-"  
"Get in!"

Then Lucy was pushed inside an air vent just big enough to hold her just as the door swung open once more, two proud figures striding into the room; one with long slender legs; the other with a strong, prideful stance. Lucy shuffled backwards, remembering the fairy's words; '_or you'll be next._', and feeling a sense of dread overcoming her. The cold from the metal seeped into her body as she heard movement from the room, and the scraping of a chair against the strong wooden floor.

"Why did you call me here? You know it's beyond risky to do this when a load of the students are running amok the place." The female of the pair spoke, tapping her foot against the wood impatiently.

Then came the male, a deep, menacing voice which would terrify Lucy, despite any situation. Especially with his next choice of words. "We've found her, Ultear, we've finally found her."

The effect of his words was immediate – the irritable tapping came to a sudden halt, and Lucy heard the sound of a mass of hair swishing around. "What?"  
"We've found her. We're a hairs breadth away from reaching success."  
"What do you mean 'we've found her'? How do you know that this girl is the One?"  
"She's got such amazing potential – it's obvious by just looking at her. I have yet to find out her name, but she has to be the One."

"Father, you said this last time, but in the end, the surgery failed, and she died immediately. It was a waste. We can't risk this again – what if we're-"  
"Ultear, be quiet!" Now the man was shouting, hands slamming onto the desk and the chair being flung behind him in his rage, leaving Lucy trembling in her confinement, leaving her senses as well as her body numb.

"I will not, Hades!" Ultear roared, her foot stamping upon the floor.

"Don't use my name whilst we're here." He growled.

"Why not? Nobody can hear us up here!"

"How are you so sure of that?"

"Because no-one's used this room for centuries!"  
"There is no time for this, Urtear."

Ultear began to hiss and seethe in rage. "Do not call me by my mother's name."  
"I will call you what I wish! Now, I need to you find and capture the Fairy Tail. You will know who it is by her eyes – eyes so deep and mysterious that they could hold more secrets than you and me together. Find her, and we will succeed. You'll be free of your misery."  
"Fine." Urtear snapped, before storming out of the room, and marching down the stone steps, her heels clicking with every step she took.

By now, Lucy was freaking out. Her entire being trembled, and she began to shuffle backwards, away from that room, away from those people, away from what she just heard. When her back clanged against the back of the air vent, she squeaked quietly, and threw herself to the side, just as Hades made his way over to the shaft, peering inside for any intruders like Lucy. Quickly, she crawled through the labyrinth of air vents, meandering left and right and down slight slopes and throwing herself down smaller, vertical shafts, earning herself multiple bruises. She knew she had been gone for a while now, and she was scared. And lost. And sore. And cold. She knew she had to get back, but when she felt her eyes droop shut, and heard the rain pour outside, she focused on the rhythmic rattling and let herself drift off, numb to the awkwardness of her position and the cold, hard sheet of metal below her.

* * *

"Lucy... please wake up soon..." A familiar, yet tired voice came from beside the sleeping blonde.

Lucy tried to open her eyes, but they felt as heavy as lead, sealed lead at that. Instead, she let out a tiny whimper, and she felt a squeezing pressure on her hand.

"Lucy? Lucy are you really awake?"  
Again, she let out a whimper, but this time, it was a tiny bit louder, to confirm that she was awake, but just couldn't form any actual words, or open her eyes.

"Lucy, you're okay!" Levy's sobbing registered somewhere inside of Lucy's mind, and her eyes snapped open suddenly to see her best friend leaning over her body, shaking heavily with sobs. "I-I was so worried!"  
"L-Levy? Where am I?" She croaked, her throat sore and dry.

"You're in the infirmary."  
"Why?"  
"You don't remember? Anything? At all?"  
"Nope."  
"I don't know what happened, but Wendy found you outside one of the doors on the top floor after you went missing for three hours after we finished the game of Hide and Seek. We realised no-one had seen you, so we went out to find you all together."

"But why am I here?"  
"You were out cold. According to Wendy, your body had gone into shock from being in the cold for too long, and had started to shut down. Not to mention you were covered in huge bruises."

Suddenly, the night of Hide and Seek flooded into Lucy's mind, and she fought back scared tears. "How long have I been here?"  
"Three days."  
"Three days!" Lucy shouted hoarsely, making the tears she fought back come spilling down her cheeks as her breath tore through her throat painfully.

"Lucy don't cry, please. Do you need anything?"  
"I need something to drink, badly." She said quietly, tears still streaming down her face from pain and remembering three nights beforehand, forcing herself to sit up in her infirmary bed.

"I'll get you some water, be right back."

Quickly, the petite bluenette rushed off, and returned a minute or so later with a very full glass of water held carefully in her hands. She handing it to Lucy, and helped her drink, tipping both the glass and the blonde's head back carefully and holding her steady as she sipped shakily. When she had finished the glass, Lucy pulled backwards nodding thankfully at Levy. The bluenette placed the glass on the floor behind her and grasped Lucy's hand once more, squeezing it reassuringly.

"I'm gonna go tell Wendy you're awake, okay? She can help you more than any nurse here. She's been coming here nightly to check up on you."  
"Thanks." Lucy nodded, and Levy turned on her heel, exiting the room swiftly and running down the corridor to go fetch the young healer.

Lucy decided to let her eyes roam the room to take her mind off of her memory. Suddenly, she noticed the figure sulking in the corner and gasped loudly.

"So you're finally awake then?" Natsu asked gently, pushing himself up off from his chair and walking over to where Lucy was sitting. "Took you long enough."  
"What're you doing here?"  
"I was worried, okay? You've barely been in the school 2 weeks, and you've already gotten yourself seriously ill."  
"How nice of you to worry about me. When did you get here?"  
"I was the one who carried here when Wendy found you, since she was too small to even try and lift you."

"Hey! I'm not that heavy."  
"You are when you're a dead weight."

"You didn't answer my question."  
"I did. I was the one who carried you here."  
Suddenly what he was saying clicked. "So you mean..."  
"Yup. I haven't left."  
"What about lessons?"  
"I never go half the time anyway, and music I can't work on without you there so there was no point in me going."  
Lucy looked down to her lap and smiled. "Thank you."  
"Don't get sentimental – I've had to deal with Levy coming in here everyday at lunch and after lessons crying over you. She was really worried about you."

"So I guessed."  
"So what were you doing up there?"  
"Up where?"  
"The top floor," He lowered his eyelids suspiciously. "No-one ever goes there, so it's been declared off-limits, especially since it's structurally unsafe. So why did you go?"

"I didn't... I didn't know," Lucy said truthfully. "I wanted somewhere to hide so..."  
"Why were you freezing then? If you had stayed just in the top floor, you would've got that cold. Sure it's breezy, but not freeze-you-to-death breezy. You had to have gone somewhere to get like that."

"I-I think..."  
"You think what?"  
"I went through the ventilation system."

"Makes sense, considering you're black and blue."  
"Is it really that bad?"  
"Wait until you find a mirror."

"Oh God."

"Why did you go through the air vents?"  
"I don't know."  
"You do, or else you wouldn't've done it."  
Lucy sighed, a lie forming in her mind already. "I got locked behind one of the doors. I had to find a way out, and there was no way I was kicking my way outta that."

Natsu gave her a disbelieving look before turning around and walking out the room. "If you say so. I'll be seeing you Monday in music then?"  
"I guess." Lucy shrugged.  
"Bye."  
"Bye..."

"Lucy!" Wendy called, rushing past Natsu and to Lucy's side, wrapping her arms gently around Lucy's shoulders. "You're okay! You woke up earlier than I predicted too. I'm so glad!"

Lucy laughed gently, and let Wendy untangled herself from around the blonde. "So does anything hurt?"  
"Apart from my bruises? Not really."  
"I'm afraid I can't do anything more than that then." Wendy shrugged. "I'm glad you're awake though. If you want, you can go back to your room now? Cana is really worried. She thinks it's her fault that you're hurt because she was the one who started the game."  
"Trust Cana." Lucy laughed quietly, accepting Wendy's outstretched hand and allowing her to help her out of bed.

Together, they walked out of the infirmary, Wendy showing Lucy the way back to the female dorms and taking her straight to her room.

* * *

"Cana? Cana open up!" Lucy rapt her knuckles against the wooden door to their shared room. "I left my key inside so let me in please?"  
"Lucy, it's you!" She heard the brunette's voice yell from behind the walls, and shortly, the door was flung open and Lucy yanked inside by her extrovert room mate, who instantly enveloped her into a bone crushing hug. "You're okay, you're okay!"

"Of course I am, or else why would I be here?" Lucy laughed, pushing herself away and laying herself down gently onto her bed.

"I'm so sorry! It's my fault you got hurt. If I had only not started the game then-"  
"Cana be quiet, it's not your fault. It's mine for deciding to take a detour through an air vent."  
Suddenly, the brunette started to splutter. "You what? That's certainly original."

"You could say that." Lucy joined in with the laughter, chuckling quietly. "Hey Cana?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Can you get me some food – I'm starving."

"Don't see why not."  
"Just get me a cheese toasty."

Cana pointed her finger accusingly at Lucy. "Don't push your luck missy. This ain't no proper restaurant."  
"I know, no need to start copying some TV show you watched the other day."  
"Aww. I just wanted to try and be British."  
"Just go and get me food."  
"Sure thing, Lu."  
"Wait, what?"

"We al decided that it was gonna be your nickname – Lu. What d'ya think?"  
Lucy pondered a bit before grinning. "It's great!"

Then Cana swung herself out of the room and sped off to go get Lucy a cheese toasty – from wherever she could get one. When the brunette returned, the toasted sandwich held in her hands, Lucy jumped up from her bed and ran over to her, grabbing the food gratefully and eating it immediately. Right now, she didn't care how she looked, because she was _starving _not having ate for 3 days. When she was finished, she hugged her room mate and returned back to her bed.

"So what have I missed?" She asked, laying down flat on her back and staring up at the bumpy ceiling.

"A whole load of gossip – according to most people, you're dead."  
"_What?_" Lucy guffawed, clutching her stomach.

"Well you didn't turn up to any of your classes for three days straight and you weren't in your room so..."  
"Oh shut up."  
"Anyway, it's pretty late, so I'm switching off for the night."  
"You're sober." Lucy noticed suddenly.

"I wont be tomorrow."  
"Why are you sober? I don't think I've ever known you to go to bed sober."  
"I was worried, okay!"  
"You mean you haven't drank for three days?"  
"Yep, and it's been utter hell, now let me go to sleep."  
"Sure thing."

Lucy stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours, listening to Cana's fluttering, rhythmic, snores, her mind suddenly on overdrive once more. _What _had she heard that night? Who had died? Were they murdered? What about that surgery? And Fairy Girl? Did they mean Mavis? Did they not? And what was Mavis? A ghost - impossible. A fairy - again, impossible. A hologram - most likely. But what type of hologram could have weight, what type of hologram could pull someone to their feet and push them back down? What kind of hologram could muffle someone's scream?

Lucy had no idea.

So instead of sleeping, the blonde stayed awake, mulling over her thoughts and trying to piece together what little information she had. Fairy Tail was her dream school alright, but what secrets did the stone walls hide from the fortunate, and what did they chose to whisper to the not?

* * *

**Bum bum bum~ Here's Chapter 3! What did you think? I know it's tiny compared to the other two chapters, but forgive me.**

**Here's the preview of Chapter 4: Meet the Council.**

_Wendy grasped Lucy's hand tightly as the blonde turned to leave, following after Mira and Erza. She came to an abrupt halt and stared back at the young bluenette, who's usually wide, brown eyes were hidden behind her bangs as she stared down at the floor, or so Lucy assumed. _

_"You saw her, didn't you?" The younger teenager whispered to her feet when the pair where finally alone._

_This confused Lucy. "What do you mean? Who did I see?"  
"Mavis. You saw her, didn't you?" Wendy repeated, her voice shaking._

_"You mean the.. the whatever it was?"  
"The spirit, yes. Or Fairy. Whatever you wish to call her."_

_"Yeah, I saw her. Why, does it matter?"  
Wendy began to shake, and released her vice-like grip on Lucy's wrist. "She's real. She's really real."_

_Lucy had never seen the calm and collected girl like this before. Why did this cause her such a reaction? "Wendy what's wrong?"_

_"I thought- I though that she wasn't real. I thought that she was imaginary. When I first saw her, I asked everyone else if they had ever seen her, and they all treated me like a child, not directly shooting me down, but not saying that she was there. So why did she show herself to you?"  
"Show herself? You mean not anyone can see her?"  
"No. She only shows herself to those who need her. Usually those people are in danger, and she sees that."  
Then it hit Lucy - when she had encountered Ultear and Hades, Mavis had warned her that she would die if she didn't hide. "So you mean..."_

_"Yeah, you're in danger Lucy, just like me."_


	5. 4: Wendy

**Chapter 4: Wendy**

It was 12 in the afternoon when Lucy woke the next morning. Cana was still out cold on the other side of the room, so Lucy decided to quickly run to the showers and wash, because if she was honest, the last time she had a shower was the day before the game of Hide and Seek, so she reeked, and her hair hung in clumps, stuck together with grease. In short – she didn't look or feel like herself.

Slowly, she pushed herself up from out of bed and began searching through her wardrobe for today's outfit, a bottle of shampoo and conditioner and a towel, then she unlocked the door and made her way down to the female wash room. Quickly, she placed her folded clothes into a locker and began to strip, using the towel as a barrier in case anyone walked in to have a morning, no afternoon, shower just like her. When she was done, she shoved her worn clothing into the locker as well and locked it with her room key behind her. Then she walked into the shower cubicle at the end of the room and bolted it shut, hanging her towel over the door and dropping her door key by her feet, where she always put it.

She let the hot water pour over her body as she began to formulate some kind of plan. She really needed to find out what she had heard that night, or else she just wouldn't be able to sleep again. First things first; she'd talk it through with the person she trusted most here – Levy.

With the first step out of the way, Lucy let her mind back on to the task at hand – scrubbing herself from head to toe to finally feel clean for the first time in days. After 10 minutes of hair washing – including many, _many, _dollops of shampoo/conditioner – Lucy finally decided that her hair was clean enough, so she moved on to her body.

"Hello? Is anyone in here?" A familiar voice came from the entrance to the shower room, and instantly, Lucy poked her head out from her cubicle.

"Hey Juvia! It's only me!" She called out, grinning at her other blue haired friend, who she learned was the school's Olympic level swimmer.

(Apparently she had even competed in the last games!)

"Lucy-san, is it really you?" The bluenette's eyes widened as she took in Lucy's damp golden locks and sparkling brown eyes as she smiled at her. "You're okay?"  
"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" She laughed, pulling backwards slightly to stop her body from showing from anywhere and revealing her black and blue bruises.

"Juvia was really worried about you. Levy-chan got Juvia all worked up, but the nurse wouldn't let Juvia come see you!" She continued, beginning to strip off and place her clothes in her locker.

Lucy blushed at her concern. "I'm so sorry, Juvia."

"It's okay, Juvia's just so glad you're okay."

Suddenly, her naked body clicked in Lucy's head, and she began to blush crimson. "Um... Juvia, do you mind... you know... getting in a shower now?"  
"Why?"  
"You're kind of naked."  
The bluenette nodded, her face void of any emotion other than curiosity. "Juvia knows, what is the problem?"

"Please just get in a shower."  
"Oh, are you feeling uncomfortable with Juvia's naked body?"  
"Yeah."  
"Sorry!" Juvia said quickly, and rushed into the shower stall next to Lucy before giggling. "Well we must be good friends now, since you've seen Juvia's naked body."  
Lucy covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her giggles. "Yeah, I guess."

Then Juvia's shower turned on, and they continued to bathe in silence, the only conversation between them being Juvia asking to borrow some conditioner since she ran out the day before.

* * *

When Lucy was done, she turned the shower off and knotted her fluffy cream towel around her bust before stepping out of the cubicle and making her way over to the lockers. Quickly, she pulled everything out and placed it down on the bench behind her and began getting dressed.

After she donned her clean underwear, Lucy separated her dirty clothes from her clean clothes, which was an easy task since she wore her school uniform to bed. Then she began to pull on the day's outfit – a black tube top; an oversized plaid shirt to wear over it; bleached, ripped and frayed denim shorts and a pair of knee high, lace up black converse. Then she pulled the hair band from her wrist and tied up a small section of her hair into a ponytail on the left side of her head. Satisfied with her outfit, she picked up her dirty laundry, and left the wash room, waving goodbye to Juvia, and skipping back to her room.

"Hey Cana," She sang cheerfully, reinvigorated from her warm shower. "Rise and shine."  
"I'm up, I'm up." The brunette scowled, rising like the dead, her crazy brown curls crazier than usual with her bedhead.

"That's good. I'm just running to the laundry room, need anything washed?" The blonde began picking up discarded pieces of clothing from the floor and bundling them up in her arms.

"You're in a good mood." Cana growled, and pointed at the pile of clothes next to her wardrobe. "But if you really wanna, there's my shit."

"I'll be back in an hour or so then, see ya!" Lucy grinned, and left the room, the huge pile of clothes in the way of her vision.

Slowly, she made her way back down the hallway, when she heard yet another familiar voice. "Lucy?"  
"Hey Erza!" Lucy squeaked from behind the mountain.

Then, more than half of it was removed from her arms, and Titania marched alongside Lucy, carrying the mass in her arms. "I see you're doing Cana's chores as well today?"  
"I offered to do it." Lucy smiled.

Suddenly, Erza's eyes narrowed, and she zoned into a spot on Lucy's neck. "You really got yourself banged up, didn't you? You're bruised all over."  
"Is it really that bad?" The blonde sighed, holding the bundle out from her body and gazing down at her flat stomach, – earned from doing plenty of manual labour to earn some cash when she was on the run from home – eyes scanning over the numerous blotches on her skin.

"Answer that for yourself. Has Wendy given you anything to minimize then bruising?"  
"No actually, was she meant to?"  
"Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't. It takes a lot out of her to make the medicine she does to cure us all, but she's a little saint."

"She's so sweet," Lucy agreed, laughing. "But I think she did something, since it doens;t hurt that much."  
"Listen here Lucy, from someone who earns bruises every day from training – they will hurt like _bitches _in a few days. If you want, I could go ask Wendy to brew you up some of her stuff for you-"  
"No, don't." Lucy interrupted, jumping from the bottom stair in the stairwell and using her hip to bump open the laundry room door. "I don't want to be a nuisance."

Erza sighed. "If you insist. Which machine do you want me to put this lot in?"

Lucy dropped her pile in shock. "Erza Don't you know how to wash your clothes properly! You've got to separate the lights from the darks, the fragile material from the sturdy! You can't just toss it all in together!"  
"Oh. Well, do you want my assistance in sorting them out?"  
"No thanks." Lucy nodded, and took the clothes from Erza's arms. "I'll be fine."

An hour and a half later, Lucy laid on her bed, arms stretched wide like a starfish. Saturday was always chore day for her, so after cleaning her side of the room – and eventually Cana's as well – she was tired again, and just wanted a bit of rest, then she remembered her plan from earlier.

Talk to Levy.

With a grunt, she hauled herself out of bed once more and swayed down the corridor, waving nervously to the girls who let their eyes trail after her, before finding Levy's door and knocking loudly.

"Hey Levy, are you in?"  
A few moments later, the painted white door swung open, and Lisanna, her snowy hair spiked at crazy, random angles, her big blue eyes outlined in thick Kohl, stood in the doorway. "Uh, hey Lucy, come in, Levy's not in at the moment, but she probably will be in a few minutes."  
"Um, Lisanna..."  
"Yeah?" The youngest Strauss cocked her head to the side.

"What's with the new look?"

"Me and Wendy are giving each other make overs."  
"Well you certainly look different." Lucy laughed kindly, and sat down on Levy's bed, watching Lisanna totter back over to Wendy, who sat giggling on the floor, hands slick with hair gel.

"Hello Lucy!" She greeted, but she seemed a bit off as she refused to let her eyes wander over to the blonde.

"Hey Wendy, it's your turn now!" Lisanna taunted, digging through her bulging make up bag and pulling out multiple tools of torture – Lucy knew that, because she used them all almost daily.

Slowly, the young bluenette forced her way over to Lisanna, who stood with a malicious smirk pulled across her face, make up tools held between each and every finger. She nodded her head to her bed, and Wendy sank down onto the mattress and closed her eyes tight. Instantly, the white haired girl got to action, and half an hour later, she pulled back, her canvas-like hair dyed multiple shades from her make-up. Wendy sat before her, eyes still screwed shut.

"Wow Lisanna, you're really good at this!" Lucy clapped her hands, giggling.

"I'm no Mira." She smiled, wiping her painted hand across her forehead.

She held up her hand mirror, and Wendy finally opened her eyes, smiling at her make-over. The Levy came tumbling through the door, multiple books cradled in her arms. "Woo, there was a major clear out at the bookstore in the town and- Lucy, what're you doing here?"  
"I needed to talk to you." The blonde said, her confidence fading. Did she really want to burden Levy with this?  
"Can it wait a bit? I'm kind of..." The petite bluenette nodded her head at the pile in her arms.

"It's kinda important." Lucy sighed, lowering her gaze to her lap and her fidgeting hands.

"Oh." There was a pause before the bookworm turned and shrugged. "Do you guys mind..."

"Not at all, c'mon Wendy, let's go show Mira-nii your amazing make-over skills!"

Then Lisanna grabbed Wendy by the hand and began tugging her out of the room, with a worried look sent in Lucy's general direction. When the door closed behind them, Levy turned back around and walked over to Lucy, taking the blonde's and between her own. "So what's up?"  
All of a sudden, Lucy didn't know how to explain her situation. "Well... you know the other day, when we were all playing Hide and Seek?"  
Levy cringed. "Yeah?"  
"Well when I was hiding, I found a turret room and started to explore it. Then a... I don't know _how _to explain it..."  
Levy smiled. "Just try – I've heard some pretty weird stuff in my time."  
"You're 17." Lucy laughed.

"And you're getting distracted – c'mon, finish telling me what's so important."

"Well, this... _ghost _appeared and told me to hide. She told me that she was Mavis Vermillion, Fairy Tail's first head master before shoving me into an air vent. Then two people came in and started talking about a Fairy Girl or something and how many had died."

"That's certainly..." Levy's doe brown eyes were wide, and her mouth was agape. "Different. Tell me this though, did you get the name's of the two people?"

"The male was Hades, and the female was Ultear."  
Levy gasped. "What? Ultear? Are you sure?"  
"100%. Either that or Urtear."

"Yup, you're serious. And the stuff about Mavis Vermillion is spot on – she was just 16 when she founded and became the first Head of Fairy Tail. I read somewhere that she wanted to create a safe environment for children with talent who had been shunned from society, whether it be because of their gender or their talent itself."  
"But why did you react like that to Ultear's name?"

"She's our school's Head Girl, but with Jellal as her partner, she's more like Head Student – that guy's too scared of her to speak up against her."

Lucy's hand covered her mouth. "She's... wow."  
"Wow?"  
"What am I gonna do Levy? I can't tell anyone else, but I can't keep this a secret, right?"  
The bluenette pondered this for a minute or so before pointing upwards with an idea. "We should do some research about this. We need to find out what's going on, and whether or not it's actually as bad as you fear. For all we know, they could just be talking about a book."

Lucy smiled. "Good idea – I'll start tomorrow in the library after school."  
Levy looked offended suddenly. "Hey, hey, hey, I said 'we', remember? You're not doing this without me."  
"I just can't seem to shake you, can I?"  
She poked out her tongue. "Nope."

Lucy lurched forward and enveloped the short girl into a bone-crushing hug. "Thank you."  
"For what?"  
"I really needed someone to listen to me. This has been eating me up since I woke up in the infirmary, and I couldn't think rationally about it."  
"Hey, it's what friends are for, right?" Levy smiled as she pulled away.  
Suddenly, a knock came from the door. "Hey, is it okay to come in?"  
Lucy nodded at Levy as she looked at the blonde for consent before speaking up. "Sure Mira!"

Then the door creaked open, and Wendy and Lisanna trudged in after Mirajane and Erza. Instantly, the two elder students rushed over to Lucy, and each placed their hands on her shoulders.

"Are you okay Lucy?" Mira's blue eyes sparkled as her lips dipped sadly.

"We heard from Lisanna that you were really worried about something, so we had to come check on you." Erza said. "But if there was something on your mind, why didn't you tell me this earlier when I helped you carry your washing?"  
"I'm okay now Mira, but thank you for worrying. And Erza, I didn't want to burden you."  
Slowly, Mira peeled her pale fingers from Lucy's shoulders and smiled, her hand over her chest. "That's a relief."  
Erza nodded and pulled back as well. "I'm sorry, but I must be going – I have to go teach my Self Defence class, and I can't be late."  
The redhead turned on her heel and fled, quickly followed by Mirajane and Lisanna, who instantly began gossiping about the newest make-up trends. With a nod, Levy stood as well. "I've gotta run too, sorry Lu. I've gotta go have a shower before it gets late."  
Then she left too, leaving Lucy alone in the room with Wendy, who's dark mood from earlier on still lingered. Feeling slightly awkward, the blonde turned to leave, but came to an abrupt halt when she felt Wendy's hand encircle her wrist, keeping her from leaving. She stared back at the young bluenette, who's usually wide, brown eyes were hidden behind her bangs as she stared down at the floor, or so Lucy assumed.

"You saw her, didn't you?" The younger teenager whispered to her feet when she felt safe that everyoe was fully our of earshot.

This confused Lucy. "What do you mean? Who did I see?"

"Mavis. You saw her, didn't you?" Wendy repeated, her high voice shaking.

"You mean the.. the whatever it was?"

"The spirit, yes. Or Fairy. Whatever you wish to call her."

"Yeah, I saw her. But why? Does it matter?"

Wendy began to shake, and released her vice-like grip on Lucy's wrist. "So she's real. She's really real."

Lucy had never seen the calm and collected girl like this before. Why did this cause her such a reaction? "Wendy what's wrong?"

"I thought- I thought that she wasn't real. I thought that she was just pure imagination. When I first saw her, I asked everyone else if they had ever seen her, and they all treated me like a child, not directly shooting me down, but not saying that she was there. So why did she show herself to you?"

"Show herself? You mean not anyone can see her?"

"No. She only shows herself to those who need her. Usually those people are in danger, and she sees that."

Then it hit Lucy - when she had encountered Ultear and Hades, Mavis had warned her that she would die if she didn't hide. "So you mean..."

"Yeah, you're in danger Lucy, just like me."

Panic bubbled within the blonde's chest and rose into her throat. What she had overheard really was as bad as she first thought – they really would've killed her if they found her in that room that night. Mavis had saved her life twice that night without Lucy even appreciating that to it's full extent. She would literally be _dead _if it wasn't for that ghost.

But still, the only rational response she could think of was; "Why do you see her?"  
"At first... I fell off the west turret. But still I see her every so often. She's keeping an eye on me, and I'm scared because I don't know why. No-one's tried to hurt me, and I don't feel threatened, but still, I'll feel her presence when I'm walking down the corridors, and I'll find someone staring at me."

"But... I'm safe now, so I'm not gonna see her again."  
"The only way you'll be safe now is when you get to the bottom of all this. And there's only two ways you'll do that." A familiar voice came from behind Lucy, making the blonde gasp.

When she turned, Mavis floated, her head down, eyes closed. Her platinum blonde waves floated like a cape as she moved forward, her lips curled downwards in a frown. "Hello Wendy, Lucy."  
"What do you mean, there's only two ways. There should only be one way?" Wendy squeaked.

"The only way Lucy will be safe is if she finds out what's going on, but the other is if she becomes a part of it. Both options are hard, and both options will be painful."

"Go away." Lucy's voice broke.  
"I'm trying to help you Lucy."  
Lucy began to cry, terrified beyond her wits. "Go away, go away, go away!"

Mavis's eyes open, and their green glowed against the darkness that came with the time. "I cannot. I wanted to create safety for my school, and that's what I'll do."

Then, the Fairy's body began to glow gold, and her wings unfurled from her back. When the light became unbearable, Lucy turned away, and when everything died down, and the two girls returned their gaze, Mavis was gone, the only proof to her visit being Lucy's hysterical tears and the two pendants laying on the floor.

_Take them._

Wendy and Lucy met each other's eyes, both hearing Mavis's voice creeping into their minds. Slowly, they crept forwards and each picked up a pendant each. Oval in shape, and each containing a large opal over the silver plate, the girls slid the silvers chains over their heads and tucked the gems down their shirts. Without another word said between them, Lucy left and walked in silence back to her room, where instantly, she fell face first onto her bed and fell asleep, ignoring Cana's curious questions to why she was gone so long.

For the first time in her life, Lucy wasn't looking forward to school the next morning.

* * *

**Thanks to unreliable internet, chapter 4 is finally up, after an annoying wait. No preview for Chapter 5 just yet, you'll just have to wait and see!**


	6. 5: Mud Swimming and Meeting Ultear

**Chapter 5: Mud swimming, teaching Natsu music, and Ultear**

Mr Taka stood at the front of the class, calling out the small list of names on the register. His blue hair was braided down his back neatly for a change, and his bright make up made his face shine under the harsh, clinical lights in the music room.

"Huh, no Lucy?" He asked around, his heavily Kohl-ed eyes scanning the room for his favourite blonde. "Maybe she's ill. Natsu, you here?"  
"Aye!"

Suddenly, the usually chirpy blonde burst through the classroom door, panting heavily as she hauled her guitar case through the door frame and flinging herself into the empty chair next to Natsu. From the front of the room, Taka raised a suspicious eyebrow. "What took you so long? You ain't usually late to class."  
Lucy tucked one of her long bangs behind her ear nervously. "I overslept, I'm really sorry."  
The blue haired male waved his hands dismissively. "I'm cool with it. Anyway, just get to your projects guys. Lucy, Natsu, you're allowed to come in here at lunch to catch up with your stuff because of Lucy's accident."  
Lucy smiled at her teacher before standing up and walking over to a piano and waving for Natsu to join her. With a groan, the pinkette picked up her forgotten guitar case and made his way over to the blonde, sitting on the side, and placing his feet on a chair. "So what are you gonna be teaching me today?"  
"Who said I was teaching you anything?"  
"The guitar did."  
"Oh. Fair enough. I was just gonna teach you some basic guitar chords whilst I figure out the piano score. D'you wanna unzip it?"  
Slowly he bent over and unzipped the case, bringing out the wooden instrument and holding in awkwardly, a look of disgust on his face.

"You're holding it wrong." Lucy groaned, getting up from her seat behind the piano and walking over to Nastu.

"How am I holding it wrong?" He growled. "You can't hold anything wrong as long are you're holding it."  
"Don't try and be a smart ass with me, Natsu. Are you left or right handed?"  
"Right."  
"Okay, hold the neck – the long bit – in your right hand, and the body in your left."  
"Why neck and body? It makes me sound like I'm strangling someone."  
"_Anyway – _put your index finger here-" Lucy moved his index finger and started rearranging his other fingers. "This finger here, this one here, and your little one here."

"What now?" Natsu cocked his head to one side as he stared down at the guitar.

"Strum." Lucy commanded.

Natsu did as such, and Lucy smiled, pleased with her work. "And that's how you play a G."

For the next few minutes, Lucy continued to teach Natsu a few more chords – C, D, F, A minor – until the pinkette complained about his fingers aching, and refused to play any more, earning himself a deathly glare from the blonde. With a sigh, she made her way back over to the piano, telling him to carry on with the lyrics.

* * *

"Hey Luce?" Natsu said suddenly, making the blonde jump and mess up her piano chord.

"What?"

"When did you get that necklace?" He asked innocently, staring at the silver chain that wound around the blonde's neck.

"What necklace?"

Natsu rolled his eyes. "The one you're wearing, weirdo."  
Suddenly, it clicked, and Lucy remembered the necklace Mavis had given her the night before. "Oh. _That _necklace? Um... Wendy gave it to me last night. She said she'd got given two by her grandfather and wanted to give me one."

"Really? She hasn't heard from her granddad in years so I wonder why..."  
Lucy blushed, eager to change the subject. "So how's the lyrics going?"  
"They're done. Wanna read?" Natsu shrugged, picking up the piece of paper he had been writing on and passing it to Lucy.

She smiled, accepting the paper, and scanning over it. "Of course."

When she was finished, she looked back up to Natsu. "Can we practise?"

"Sure."  
"_Call back the cap com,_

_Tick off the time bomb-" _Lucy sang, sitting down at the piano and starting playing.

"_**Ain't it fun?**_"

"_Let felicity fly-_"

"_**I don't mind.**_"

"_Armor the air lock_

_Blanket the bed rock_

_And kiss the plant goodbye."_

"_**I don't mind.**__" _

"_What're you gonna do, _

_when the world don't orbit around you?" _

"_**Around you!**_

_**Ain't it fun?"**__  
"I was terribly lost." _

"_**Living in the real world!**__"_

"_And the sun went dark."_

"_**Ain't it fun?**__"  
"I don't mind."  
"__**Being all alone.**__"_

"_When the galaxies crossed."_

Lucy continued playing for a few bars before Natsu started singing again.  
_"__**Where you're from,**_

_**You might be the one who's running things,"**_

"_Where you could rings anybody's bell and get what you want_

"_**You see it's easy to ignore a-"**_

"_**Trouble-" **_They both sang, laughing.

"_When you're living in a bubble."_

"_**So summit the sunset**_

_**dubtail the dragnet**_

_**and blow your backbone to bits."**_

"_Ain't it fun?  
Dear God I was terribly lost_

_When the galaxies crossed and the sun went dark,"_

"_**Fool with you?"**__  
"But dear God you're my only north star I would follow this far."_

"_**I don't mind!"**_

"_Oh telescope,_

_keep an eye in the real world_

_Lest I blink and can't count on no one."_

"_**Hercules you've got nothing to say to me**_

_**Cos you're not good to be on your own."**_

"_Blinding light that I need-"  
__**"For he is the saving grace of the real world."**_

"_Real world, real world, real world, real world."_

"_**For he is the saving grace when you're on your own."**_

"_On your own, on your own, on your own, on your own."  
_Lucy pulled away from the piano, smiling. Even though she had never enjoyed playing piano when she was back in the Heartfilia Konzern, when she was forced to play against her own will to songs she despised, playing songs she adored always made her happy. And her happiness seemed to be contagious, because as the blonde turned to congratulate Natsu, she found the pinkette grinning from ear to ear, just as she was.

"Natsu-"  
"That, was, _awesome!_"

Then the bell rang, making the pair jump.

"And that's our signal to go." Lucy laughed, walking over to her guitar and placing it into its case. "We have PE next, right?"  
"Yup."  
"Can I walk with you?"  
"You're gonna do it anyway so there's no point in me telling you no, even if I wanted to."  
Lucy grabbed the pinkette by his wrist and started tugging him through the crowded corridors."Well let's get going or we're going to be late!"

* * *

Without Levy, Lucy was stuck with only Natsu again for the next two hours, with not even an Erza around to keep him in check. P.E was okay, since the blonde was partnered up with the crazy boy, and she matched his competitive streak easily, so they worked well together in a team, losing only the matches that required brute strength, which was Lucy's strong point. When they crossed the line in the 200 metre sprint, Natsu beating Lucy by a few seconds, the pair sat down under a tree by the track, cooling down in the shade. Considering it was nearing December, it was crazy hot for the time of year, and somehow the flowers and trees around the school grounds had kept a hold of their petals and leaves.

Hand held over her eyes to block out the morning sun, Lucy let herself have a good look at her surroundings – her third week at school and still she barely know the basic layout of the school grounds. Her eyes roamed over the converted castle and she started counting the turrets. _1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6... 7._

"Hey Natsu," Lucy spoke suddenly, making the male who had fallen asleep beside her jolt awake. "Why is there 7 turrets?"  
"I dunno. There's a lot of sevens here." He yawned, stretching out his arms and sitting up.

"What do you mean?"  
"I dunno, it's what Gramps told me."  
Lucy cocked her head. "Who's gramps?"  
Natsu laughed, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "Oh yeah, I forget that you're new here. Gramps is the headmaster here."  
"You mean Makarov? You're his grandson? I remember him saying he had one attending here but I didn't realise it was you..."

"Nah, he ain't my real gramps." Natsu laughed again. "But he might as well be. He's the one who brought me here when I was a kid, and he made it his job to find me a talent."

"Huh? What do you mean 'find you a talent'?"  
"It's nothing."

"Natsu, Lucy," Mrs Connell yelled from the centre of the track, waving her gun – filled with blanks, of course – in the air as she beckoned the pair. "C'mon, you guys still got half an hour left of the lesson!"

* * *

"I cannot believe you Natsu!" Lucy grimaced as she and the pinkette walked towards the changing rooms when Mrs Connell dismissed the class. The blonde's entire left side of her body was coated in thick, stinking mud, from where he had pushed her a few minutes back.

"Hey, don't blame me!" He retorted, arms folded over his chest defensively. "I didn't know that puddle was going to be there."

"One: It was _not _a puddle – it was a dried up, sticky pond! Two: You've been here since you were a child – you should know this place like the back of your hand!"  
"I do!" He pouted.

"Then you should've known _that!_"

"You can't seriously expect me to know every nook and cranny of the joint, right?"

True, the very idea was extreme, but Lucy was angry – angry, and stinking, and dirty and sticky – and she needed someone to pin the blame on. Not to mention, he actually deserved the blame, but still, the blonde sighed in defeat, and ran her clean hand through her muddied, matted locks, grimacing.

"No, I don't." She rolled her eyes at Natsu's smug grin. "But still, you ought to know better – what in the world possessed you to push me anyway?"  
Natsu shrugged. "I dunno – I felt like it?"  
"Are you ADHD or something?"

"Nah, just a bit naturally impulsive."

"Well see you at lunch, Natsu!" The blonde smiled as the pair reached the changing rooms and parted ways.

* * *

Lucy dragged her brush through her hair as she marched down the corridors to the lunch hall – over 2 hours after being pushed in the mud, and one thorough shower later,the mud _still _refused to budge from her hair. The blonde – or brunette, if this carried on – growled, scaring a few people either side of her, and shouldered the hall's doors open, walking straight over to '_The Group's_' table, where Erza, Lisanna, Mirajane, Elfman and Romeo were already tucking in to their lunches. Quickly, she shoved her bags onto the empty chair next to Erza, and went to go get her own meal.

A few minutes later she returned, and asked Erza to move her bag for her since she had her hands full. The redhead obliged, and pushed her messenger bag onto the floor, pulling the plastic chair out for the blonde to sit down on.

"Thanks Erza!" Lucy smiled, sliding into her seat and shuffling forward, placing her plates down on the table and tucking in.

"No problem, Lucy." Erza nodded before digging her spoon into her dessert, a content smile on her face.

"Uh Lucy..." Lisanna said, one perfect eyebrow raised. "Why is there mud in your hair?"

Lucy dropped her cutlery before sighing and meeting the youngest Strauss's eyes. "One word: Natsu."  
The white haired teen giggled softly as she shook her head. "Makes sense now. He's a complete idiot 95% of the time."  
"And the other 5%?"  
"He has his moments."

Lucy raised her eyebrows and quickly shoved a forkful of pasta into her mouth."Well I can't wait to witness one of these 'moments'."  
"Anyways – what did he do to get you that muddy?" Lisanna reached forwards and ran her hand – or tried to - through the blonde's matted hair. "It must've been pretty stupid for the mud to be that rooted."  
Lucy rolled her eyes and swallowed her mouthful. "He pushed me into a sorta dried up pond during P.E."  
Lisanna shook her head, muttering under her breath. "Well he better've said sorry or he's not going to hear the end of it, let me tell you."

The blonde laughed as she waved off the other girl's 'threat'. "It's okay, honestly. You carry on eating."

Quickly, Lisanna got back to eating, and Lucy carried on with her pasta. Beside her, Erza had long finished her cake and was chatting easily with Mirajane, whilst Romeo tried to make awkward conversation with Elfman. A few minutes later Levy strolled into the hall, talking animatedly with Gajeel who snickered at what the petite bluenette had just said. Lucy elbowed Erza, and the redhead nodded, a knowing smile on her face. When the odd pair finally sat down, Levy squished herself next to Lucy, and Gajeel sat alone at the end of the table, immediately digging into his meal.

"So what's going on between you and Gajeel then, Levy?" Lucy whispered into her friend's ear a few seconds later, smirking.

Immediately, the bluenette's brown eyes widened in shock, and her cheeks flushed red as she choked on her small mouthful of sandwich. "What? Nothing's going on! I don't know what you mean."  
"Your reaction says different – but don't worry. Your secret's safe with me." The blonde winked before noticing the pair of figures that made their way over to the table.

They pair consisted of a male and a female, and even from that distance, Lucy could easily tell that the female was boss – everything about her screamed 'dominant', from the neatness of her appearance to the way she held herself. The guy was shadowed behind her, but he held himself just as strongly as she did – back straight, head held high, showing his odd tattoo as proudly as she did her long, sleek hair.

When they reached the table, Erza looked up and smiled warmly at the pair. "Well hello Jellal, Ultear."

_Ultear._

Lucy's breath caught in her throat as she registered the name, to which she now had a face to match. Slim brown eyes, dark lipstick, messy bangs and a white headband – a mix that Lucy knew she wasn't going to forget easily.

Forcing herself to breath, Lucy noticed the male – Jellal, as Erza called him – nod familiarly at the redhead, a small smile playing on his lips, very much similar to Erza's. Ultear raised her fist to her lips and coughed, breaking the pair from their little trance, before addressing Erza.

"Erza." She nodded, flicking her hair. "Remember the meeting today – 5 P.M. Arrive no later, or you'll not be allowed to enter the Council."

"Has there been a time where I've been late, Ultear?" Erza smiled, but this time, Lucy could sense that it was forced, unlike when she was talking to Jellal.

"Not that I can remember, but still – don't risk it. You'll lose your position otherwise."

"I know. Now, can you please leave us be whilst we eat?" Erza cocked her head tot he side and raised an eyebrow.

Ultear narrowed her eyes before sighing and turning on her heel, sashaying off with Jellal in quick succession. Lucy finally found herself able to breath naturally, and felt Erza deflate beside her.

"Erza," The blonde began, but stopped short, unable to complete her question. What was she to ask? How she knew Ultear? If she was okay? What was up with her and Ultear?

Instead, the redhead answered a bit of everything for herself. "I'm okay – no need to worry yourself. Me and Ultear are always a bit on edge with each other. Since we met through Jellal and became roommates here at Fairy Tail, she felt the need to prove her dominance over me, but I've never allowed her to walk all over me, as she does with most people."

Lucy cocked her head. "What do you mean '_as she does with most people_'?"  
"She's manipulative, as you can probably tell. Not to mention she is a very well connected person – she can ruin you within a week. Most people bow down to her in fear – that's how she became Head Girl."

"Oh."  
"It's nothing you need to worry yourself about, Lucy. You'll be fine with her – I can tell. You're very resilient, so you can handle her just fine."

"You think so?"  
Erza nodded and smiled. "Of course I do."  
"Hey Erza," Levy piped up suddenly, finished with her packed lunch. "Shouldn't you have enrolled Lucy in Self-Defence by now?"

Suddenly, the redhead's eyes widened. "I can't believe I forgot! I'm so sorry Lucy – you may hit me if it'll make you feel better."  
Lucy reeled back, her hands held out in front of her passively. "No no no – it's fine! But why do I have to be enrolled in self defence?"  
"It's not mandatory, but Erza takes it upon herself to make sure every pupil here is able to keep themselves safe. Even me and Wendy take the class." Levy said, smiling proudly at Erza.

"Really? Well I guess I'll do it. When's the classes?"  
"Every Saturday at 3 o'clock," Erza nodded, her arms crossed over her chest. "In the gym."

_Lucy?_

Lucy jumped in her seat, making Levy and Erza raise their eyebrows at her.

_Lucy can you hear me? _Wendy's voice wormed it's way into Lucy's mind, confusing the blonde. _Meet me in the library - 5__th__ floor. We're going to get to the bottom of whatever this is before you get involved._

_Wendy? How... _Lucy gasped internally, her eyes still wide.

_The pendants._  
"I've gotta go." She said suddenly, slamming her hands atop the table loudly and pushing herself up.

"Go where?" Mirajane asked, concerned at the blonde's behaviour.

"The library."  
"Oh I'll come!" Levy smiled, bending down to pick up her satchel.

"_No!_" Lucy gasped, backing away from the table, her arms outstretched. "I-I mean... I've gotta go alone or else I won't be able to study properly, ya know?"  
Levy looked crestfallen as she sunk back into her seat, dropping her bag onto the floor once more. "Oh... okay then. I'll see you later maybe?"  
"Maybe." Lucy rushed as she backed away for a few more steps before turning on her heel and sprinting out of the food hall and to the library.

Suddenly, the blonde crashed into someone, letting out a cry as she tottered backwards before the person she bumped into grabbed her arms and stopped her fall.

"Woah Lucy, where're you going?"  
"Natsu?" Lucy tugged her arms free from his grasp and hopped around him. "Uh... no-where."  
"Well you're going no-where in quite a hurry."  
"Yup. No-where is a pretty cool place at lunch."

"Can I come with you? If no-where is so cool that you nearly knock yourself out running into someone getting there, then I wanna see."  
"Nope. You - you go and eat."  
"Lucy, what's up with you? You've been really jumpy recently."  
"Nothing."  
"You know you can tell me, right? I've heard some pretty fucked up shit, so I'm not gonna judge you."  
Lucy laughed awkwardly, waving off the pinkette's concerns. "Honestly, nothing's up."  
Natsu sighed, scowling. "If you say so."

The blonde sighed inwardly before running off again, waving over her shoulder. "Anyways, gotta go!"

_Wendy... What if... _Lucy cut herself off before she could finish her sentence. _I'm on my way._

* * *

**So there's chapter 5 - finally! First GaLe and Jerza moment so far, so I'm happy for now - what about you guys? Please tell me what you thought and hopefully the next chapter will be up ASAP**

**Preview of Chapter 6: It's Not Me**

_"_**Childish eyes full of glee,**

**Is what need she.**

**Secrets untold,**

**Treasures behold,**

**Pools of innocent darkness are what they need be.**"_ Lucy read aloud, glistening brown eyes glued to the page._

_This was what Ultear had been told by Hades - a girl with eyes '_so deep and mysterious that they could hold more secrets than you and me together.'. _And reading this, something stirred within the blonde, filling her with more dread than before. Slowly, she turned to face Wendy, who's worried expression almost matched Lucy's.  
_

_"Wendy," She croaked, her voice shaking. "It's not me."  
"I know."  
"But what about Levy?"_


End file.
